Paper Loud House
by Ohfortheloveofpete
Summary: Lincoln likes to play video games...but what is he going to do now that he's inside one? Crossover with Paper Mario. Inspired by Paper Mario Eds.
1. Chapter 1: Party Crash

_Hey there! Today I'm going to be making a fanfic based on the Lo_ _ud House and Paper Mario...why am I making a fanfic like this, you ask? Well, I know that for some strange reason someone made a fanfic where Ed, Edd, and Eddy were in Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door...I figured since MasaeAlena uploaded a Let's Play of Paper Mario on Youtube I figured I would make a fanfic similar to that._

 _But instead of using Ed, Edd, and Eddy, I figured I would use Lincoln and his sisters. And yes, they'll all going to be starring in this fanfic...not just Lincoln. How about that._

 **Chapter 1: Party Crash**

Lincoln was feeling rather excited. Today was the day that he got to play Paper Mario on the Nintendo 64. It had arrived in the mail (and before you ask, Parakarry did not deliver it, the mailman did) and now he would get to play it.

Currently, his sisters were doing his own thing.

Little did Lincoln know that at this very moment, Lisa was building a machine that opened up portals.

"I wonder what I should try it out on?" asked Lisa.

Immediately, she began to walk down the stairs.

Currently, Lincoln was looking at the intro for the game.

"So, the game is about the Star Spirits just standing there granting wishes for everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom? I was under the impression that something more interesting would happen..." noted Lincoln.

Suddenly, he noticed that someone had stuck a sticker inside the storybook.

"Huh? I wonder who stuck that in there?" questioned the boy.

As it turned out, it was none other than the evil Koopa King, Bowser.

"Oh. That explains it." answered Lincoln. Apparently, Bowser wanted to have HIS wishes granted.

"I'm here for your Star Rod!" exclaimed Bowser.

Immediately, Bowser grabbed onto the Star Rod, the wand that was the source of the Star Spirit's power.

"Stop!" bellowed Eldstar.

Unfortunately, Bowser chose to ignore the Star Spirits. Instead, he stuck earplugs and stuck them in his ears.

He then used the Star Rod to trap the seven Star Spirits inside a set of playing cards.

"Let's see Mario BEAT me now!" exclaimed Bowser.

"Oh dear, I think Mario is going to have his hands full stopping Bowser this time..." acknowledged Lincoln.

Shortly afterward, the game shifted to the title screen.

"Well, now I'll just press the start button and-

Suddenly, Lisa tripped down the stairs and zapped the TV.

Shortly afterwards, a strange portal appeared.

Lincoln sighed. He had a feeling that Lisa would do something like this.

At that very moment, Clyde showed up.

"Lincoln, what is going o-"

A few seconds later, the portal began to grow in size. One by one, Lincoln, Clyde, and his sisters were sucked inside.

"Aah!" screamed Lori.

"Eeek!" exclaimed Leni.

"Whoa!" bellowed Luna.

"Yikes!" screeched Luan.

"Oh boy!" yelled Lynn.

"Noooooo!" shrieked Lincoln.

"Huh." remarked Lucy.

"What's going on?" asked Lola.

"Why?!" shouted Lana.

"Another one of my experiments gone wrong." thought Lisa.

"Wah!" cried Lily.

"I didn't come to Lincoln's house for this!" noted Clyde.

 _A few minutes later..._

Fortunately for Lincoln, it appeared that he was unhurt.

"That's a relief..." noted Lincoln.

However, he quickly noticed that he wasn't at his house anymore.

"Huh? Where am i?" questioned the boy.

He decided to look around. He seemed to be in some sort of town...that was full of Toads.

"Wait a minute..." comprehended the eleven-year-old. Apparently, Lisa's machine had somehow placed him inside the game.

Perhaps he should have a talk with Lisa about experimenting on him and the rest of her siblings.

But now that he thought of it...where were his siblings? Weren't his siblings sucked inside the game too?

Something told him that he needed to search for them.

 _In Goomba Village..._

Lily wondered where she was. This didn't look anything like her crib. Was Lisa trying to experiment on her again? She was her roommate.

Suddenly, a Toad showed up.

Immediately, he noticed Lily.

He wondered what a baby was doing in the wilderness by herself. He decided that he would take her to where she would be safe.

"What a cute little baby!" exclaimed the Toad, picking her up.

Lily giggled.

"Let's take you to my house, shall we?" asked the Toad.

 _In Koopa Village._..

"I'm starting to think that my latest invention backfired on me..." noted Lisa.

Suddenly, a Fuzzy stole her glasses.

"What the-I can't see anything!" exclaimed the young girl.

She began to run around.

Eventually, she crashed into a nearby building.

"Oof!" bellowed Lisa.

 _Near Koopa Bros. Fortress._..

"Where are we, Lola?" asked Lana.

"Looks like some sort of castle..." noted Lola.

Suddenly, the Koopa Bros. showed up.

"What's this?" asked Red Ninjakoopa.

"It looks like one of them is dressed like Mario and one of them is dressed like Princess Peach..." noted Black Ninjakoopa.

"Take them to the dungeon!" ordered Red Ninjakoopa.

Immediately, several Koopa Troopas appeared and began to do just that.

Lola and Lana gasped.

 _In Mt. Rugged..._

"You know, this video game seems awfully cheery..." remarked Lucy. She wished she was in a horror game.

At that very moment, Whacka showed up.

"It's fine a fine day to be sure! I'm having the best day of my life!" bellowed Whacka.

"Just wait until the sun goes down. All of a sudden it won't be so bright and cheery anymore." pointed out Lucy..

The Whacka whimpered and went back underneath the ground.

 _In Gusty Gulch..._

"Where is everybody? I want to play some sports!" complained Lynn.

Unbeknownst to Lynn, the residents were currently hiding.

At that very moment, Tubba Blubba showed up.

"Have you seen any Boos?" asked Tubba Blubba.

"How the heck should I know?" inquired Lynn.

Lynn tossed a dodgeball at Tubba Blubba.

However, it simply bounced off of him.

"Trying to attack me? I'm invincible!" bellowed Tubba Blubba.

"Wow..." remarked Lynn. Apparently she wasn't going to beat him in a sports competition.

Tubba Blubba left to go look for some more Boos.

 _In Shy Guy's Toy Box..._

"Where am I? This place looks really goofy...just the way I like it!" exclaimed Luan.

Currently, the Shy Guys were pulling pranks on each other.

One of them was using a squirting flower while another was using a seltzer bottle.

Luan decided to join in and toss a pie at a Shy Guy's face...or mask.

The Shy Guy simply laughed...and decided to return the favor.

"Huh. I always wondered what it was like on the other side." noted the lady.

She pulled out a rag and used it to rub the pie off her face.

 _At Lavalava Island..._

"Where am I? Is there a concert here somewhere?" questioned Luna.

As it turned out, there was not any concert in the area.

"Maybe not." noted the girl.

What was she going to do now?

"Well, I guess I'll just do what Mick Swagger taught me..." answered the girl.

Immediately, she began to rock out on her music guitar.

Sure enough, several residents of Lavalava Island flocked together to hear her music.

"Rock out!" exclaimed Luna.

 _At Flower Fields..._

"Where am I? I don't seem to be at my house anymore...I think." noted Leni.

Curious, she noticed that she was surrounded with flowers.

"Alright! I love flowers!" exclaimed the girl.

Something told her that she was going to like it here.

"Wait, how do I get home again?" asked Leni.

Perhaps there was a taxi that she could use.

On the other hand...

"Maybe I could stay here a little longer." noted the girl.

 _At Shiver City..._

As soon as Lori realized where she was, she began to shiver.

"Alright, why is it so cold in here? And why is this city full of penguins?" asked Lori. It was baffling.

Curious, she decided to text her boyfriend Bobby. She wanted to talk to him.

However, much to her surprise, she did not have cell phone reception here.

"Nooooooo!" exclaimed Lori.

In the process, a frozen pool near her began to crack.

"I scream really loudly, don't I?" questioned the teenage girl.

 _Back at Toad Town..._

Curious, Lincoln noticed that several Toads were heading towards Peach's Castle.

"Where are you all going?" asked Lincoln.

"We're going to Peach's Castle for a party! Everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom is invited!" exclaimed one of the Toads.

"Everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom, you say? Sounds like there's going to be a lot of guests..." remarked Lincoln.

The Toads nodded.

"Best of all, Mario's coming!" bellowed a Toad.

"Good to k-wait a minute..." said Lincoln.

Suddenly, he remembered that Bowser had stolen the Star Rod...just like the intro of Paper Mario.

No doubt he would be planning to use it against Mario, since it would make him invincible.

He needed to warn Mario immediately!

As it turned out, Mario and Luigi were already heading towards Peach's Castle.

He attempted to outrun them, but he ended up tripping over his face.

"You alright?" asked a nearby Toad.

"Mario!" bellowed Lincoln.

"Hmm, he sounds like Princess Peach when she gets kidnapped." noted another Toad.

As he raced the Mario Brothers to Peach's Castle, he again wondered how his sisters were doing. Hopefully they were doing alright.

Also, he wondered where the Star Spirits had ended up after they had been captured by Bowser. They could be all over the Mushroom Kingdom. He wasn't sure where Bowser had hidden them all.

The only thing now was to tell Mario so that he could rescue them. Maybe the Star Spirits could help him get past the Star Rod.

Immediately, he sped past the guests to look for Mario.

He was heading towards Princess Peach, unsurprisingly.

Curious, he didn't see Luigi with him. Apparently he had decided to head back home.

"I-a left the stove on!" exclaimed Luigi.

"Oh, that explains it..." acknowledged Lincoln.

At that very moment, Mario entered the room where Princess Peach was. It looked like she had been waiting for him for a while.

"Ah Mario! I've been waiting for you!" exclaimed Peach.

Mario nodded. He was hoping to spend the day with Princess Peach.

However, they were interrupted by Lincoln.

"Can I help you? The guests are downstairs." asked the princess.

"I need to warn you about Bowser! He stole the Star Rod from Star Haven!" exclaimed Lincoln.

Peach and Mario looked at each other, feeling rather confused.

"Star Rod? Star Haven? Um, are you feeling okay?" questioned Peach.

Lincoln scratched his head. Now that he thought of it, the story did seem kind of crazy.

Well, maybe he should just go downstairs and go have some fun. Maybe he could save looking for his sisters for later. He was sure that they were alright.

However, as soon as he attempted to do so, the castle began to shake.

"What-what's going on?" asked Lincoln.

"We're moving!" exclaimed Peach.

As it turned out, something was lifting Peach's Castle into the sky.

Lincoln looked out the window, and noticed that there was a scary-looking castle below. For some strange reason Bowser's Castle was directly below it.

He gulped.

Meanwhile, Mario and Peach were still wondering what was going on.

"What's going on? I thought it was daylight!" exclaimed Peach.

Mario decided to take a closer look.

Apparently, they had somehow ended up in outer space.

Fortunately, for whatever reason they were still able to breathe. Perhaps there was an oxygen bubble in Peach's Castle that Peach had been saving for emergencies or had neglected to tell him about.

"Who could have done this?" asked the princess.

At that very moment, Bowser showed up in his Clown Copter, bursting through the window.

"That was a good window..." complained Peach.

"Gwahahahaha! Like what I did to your castle, princess?" asked Bowser.

"Bowser! I thought you had learned your lesson after Mario beat you up..." questioned the princess.

Mario recalled when Bowser had attempted to launch a giant Bullet Bill at his house. However, Mario decided to return the Bullet Bill to its sender using his hammer and it went crashing straight into Bowser.

"Well, this time it's going to be different! I've got a secret weapon this time!" exclaimed Bowser.

Suddenly, Mario remembered what Lincoln had tried to warn him about. Was he telling the truth?

Immediately, Bowser pulled out the Star Rod.

Mario gasped. It looked like Lincoln WAS telling the truth.

"Like it? I picked it up from Star Haven...those Star Spirits REALLY should have honored my wishes..." answered Bowser.

Mario couldn't help but shake the feeling that he already knew why the Star Spirits hadn't been honoring Bowser's requests.

"Let's give it a test run, shall we?" suggested the Koopa King.

Immediately, he activated the power of the Star Rod.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.

Meanwhile, Kammy Koopa was rounding up the guests that hadn't already left the party and taking them to the dungeon.

"Do you have everyone?" inquired Kammy Koopa.

"I think so..." nodded a Koopatrol.

At that very moment, a Hammer Bro noticed Lincoln.

"Hey! Over there!" exclaimed a Hammer Bro.

"Check that, almost everyone..." corrected the Koopa guard.

Lincoln gasped.

Quickly, he began to run away from Bowser's minions.

Meanwhile, Mario was trying to attack Bowser.

However, none of his attacks seemed to have any effect on him. What was going on?

"Hahahaha! As long as I have the Star Rod, I'm invincible!" exclaimed Bowser.

Curious, Mario tried to grab onto the Star Rod, but Bowser simply swatted him away.

"Hands off the merchandise!" bellowed the Koopa King.

Immediately, he breathed fire on Mario.

"Mamamia..." murmured Mario as he passed out on the floor.

"Mario! No!" exclaimed Princess Peach.

"Now to take out the trash." remarked Bowser.

Immediately, Bowser used the Star Rod to knock Mario out the window.

"Noooooo!" bellowed the princess.

Shortly afterwards, two Koopatrols came to pick Princess Peach up.

Meanwhile, Lincoln was attempting to escape Bowser's minions.

However, he eventually realized there was no way out. He was in the middle of outer space.

At that very moment, Bowser's minions surrounded him.

"Give it up!" bellowed a Hammer Bro.

"We have you surrounded!" exclaimed a Boomerang Bro.

Sighing, Lincoln decided to do what Luna often did.

He decided to take a leap of faith.

Immediately, he jumped off the balcony and hoped that he would survive.

"What the heck?" inquired a Fire Bro.

"Well, that was pretty stupid." noted a Clubba.

"Well, I guess we shouldn't worry about him. Let's get back to work!" exclaimed a Hammer Bro.

Immediately, Bowser's minions returned to Peach's Castle.

 _Well, things didn't turn out so well for Mario and Lincoln, did it? They're both falling off of Peach's Castle...and it was in the middle of outer space! But not to worry...they'll survive...I don't feel like making the rest of the story about Bowser using the Star Rod to rule the world._

 _Anyways, it looks like Lincoln is going to have to find all his sisters, isn't he? You can probably guess which of his sisters he's going to find first._

 _By the way, I played Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam. It felt good playing a Paper Mario game as well as a Mario and Luigi game._

 _In the next chapter, Mario and Lincoln are going to try to make it back to Toad Town...since they can't simply grow wings and fly towards Peach's Castle that seems like the next best thing, right?_


	2. Chapter 2: Lincoln Savvy

_In this chapter, Lincoln is going to get some powers since he's in a video game...of course, he won't be able to use them once he's outside the video game, but it will be fun while they last._

 _The Loud Family's powers are based on their personality...in case you were wondering._

 **Chapter 2: Lincoln Savvy**

"Aah!" screamed Lincoln. Just how long was he going to fall. Was this the end for him? He had barely even gotten into this video game.

However, at that very moment, something unexpected happened.

Instead of falling, he began to fly.

"Huh?" asked the boy.

Apparently, since he was now inside a video game, he had superpowers.

"Oh, I suppose this makes sense..." answered Lincoln Loud. Surely he would at least have some sort of method to defend himself, whether it was wielding a sword or inhaling enemies so that he could steal their powers.

Perhaps he wasn't going to fall to his death after all.

Why exactly did he get flying powers though? Mario didn't have those. He had to use a P-Wing to get up into the sky.

He then remembered his favorite comic book hero Ace Savvy. Perhaps since he was a big fan of his, he had Ace Savvy's powers in this game.

"Oh, right." remembered Lincoln. Perhaps he was going to have fun playing this video game...even if he was technically inside the video game instead of playing it.

Suddenly, he noticed something rather alarming.

As it turned out, it was Mario, who was falling off of Peach's Castle. Apparently, since Bowser had the Star Rod, fighting him hadn't turned out so well.

Perhaps it would best for Mario to retreat for the time being and save rescuing Princess Peach for later.

Immediately, he grabbed onto Mario. Surprisingly, he didn't have a hard time lifting him at all.

Lincoln then remembered that Ace Savvy had superhuman strength.

"Oh, right..." remembered Lincoln.

Suddenly, a Bullet Bill was shot at his head.

"Whoa!" exclaimed the boy.

As it turned out, Bowser's minions were shooting at him using Bullet Bill cannons.

"Aim for Mario!" ordered a Hammer Bro.

It suddenly occurred to Lincoln that maybe he shouldn't stay in the sky for much longer. At this rate he was going to get shut down.

Besides, Mario was rather beat up...it would probably be best to send him somewhere where he could recover instead of heading back to Peach's Castle where Bowser was currently lurking.

So, he decided to make his way down, careful to avoid the Bullet Bills along the way.

Eventually, he was out of range of the Bullet Bill cannons.

Bowser's minions scowled in frustration and decided to head back to Peach's Castle.

Eventually, Lincoln landed in what appeared to be a grassland.

"I wonder where I can find the nearest hospital..." questioned Lincoln.

Suddenly, the seven Star Spirits appeared.

"Aren't you the guys from the intro?" inquired the boy. Things hadn't turned out so well.

"Thank you for bringing Mario here...now we can use what's left of our power to make sure that he'll be alright..." stated Eldstar.

"You're welcome?" answered Lincoln.

"Soon he'll be able to fight evil again!" exclaimed Mamar.

"You do realize that as long as Bowser has the Star Rod Mario can't lay a finger on him, right? Heading back to Peach's Castle would be the worst thing to do." questioned Skolar.

"I know...that's why he's going to need our help...he can't take on Bowser if we don't do something." answered Muskular.

"Maybe he needs us to explain what he needs to do...though I will admit that it seems rather simple." noted Misstar.

"I know! Why don't we tell him to go to Shooting Star Summit! We can explain everything in detail there." suggested Klevar.

"We might as well bring his savior along while we're at it...perhaps he can be of assistance. Besides, I don't think that he's alone..." commented Kalmar.

Immediately, the seven Star Spirits showed up.

At that very moment, Goombaria showed up.

"Excuse me, do you know a good place where Mario can rest? He got beat up..." explained Lincoln.

"That's Mario?! I'm fangirling!" exclaimed Goombaria. Who would have thought that she would get the opportunity to meet the overall-clad plumber?

Immediately, Goombaria began to squeal. She had always wanted to meet Mario...so did her brother, actually.

"This reminds me of when my sisters squealed when they found out that my bully was a girl..." noted the boy.

"Anyways, you said that he needs a place to rest, right?" asked the female Goomba.

"Yes, he does. He fought with Bowser...and he lost!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"He lost? That's new." remarked Goombaria.

Immediately, she directed Lincoln towards the nearest village...which was Goomba Village.

"Thanks..." stated Lincoln.

Quickly, Lincoln took Mario to the Toad House so that he could recover.

"Hey there, Mar-oh my gosh! What happened?" asked Toad.

"Bowser happened..." explained Lincoln.

"I'll help him recover right away!" exclaimed the sole resident of Goomba Village that wasn't a Goomba.

"Wait, if this village is full of Goombas...does this mean that Mario's in trouble?" asked the boy.

"Actually, none of the Goombas here are evil..." explained the Toad. "Some of the Goombas outside the village work for Bowser though..."

"Oh, that's a relief." answered Lincoln.

Immediately, he decided to wait outside while Mario recovered.

Suddenly, he smelled something that was rather foul...and strangely familiar.

"Ugh! What's that smell?" asked the boy.

"Here we go again!" exclaimed the Toad.

Within a few minutes, the smell had disappeared completely.

"I wonder what was that all about..." questioned Lincoln.

 _Meanwhile..._

"Isn't this awesome, Kammy? I finally managed to defeat that lousy Mario! I'd like to see him try to stop me now!" exclaimed Bowser.

Immediately, he showed off the Star Rod for his minions, who began to cheer. It looked like their king was unstoppable.

"Yeah...I wouldn't be celebrating quite yet." answered Kammy.

"Why not? Princess Peach is mine, I have her castle, Mario's down for the count, I have the Star Rod, and I could grant whatever wish I want!" bellowed the Koopa King.

"Well, he was saved from falling by a boy who was at the party...he also seemed to know ahead of time that you had stolen the Star Rod...I wonder why..." questioned the Magikoopa.

"What? Why didn't you and my minions stop him?" inquired Bowser. He thought that he had managed to capture every guest at the party...he wanted to sentence them to hard labor.

"We tried that, but he was too fast. He managed to get past all the Bullet Bills that we shot at him and managed to get Mario to safety..." explained Kammy.

"Well, that's rather frustrating! I was hoping that Mario would at least break a bone or two once he reached the ground..." frowned the King of the Koopas.

"Yeah...I believe that he's trying to nurse him back to health as we speak..." continued Bowser's sidekick.

"Fine then. Why don't you and your brother go visit Mario and his little friend and make sure that they don't make it back to Toad Town..." ordered Bowser.

"You got it!" exclaimed the purple Magikoopa.

Immediately, Kammy went to go get her brother. He was currently reading a book in the library.

"Interesting..." read Kamek as he flipped through the pages. Apparently, Paper Mario had a sequel called Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. And strangely enough, Bowser was NOT the main antagonist in that one.

Suddenly, Kammy got his attention.

"Brother!" exclaimed Kammy.

"What is it, sis? I'm busy reading!" asked Kamek.

"Lord Bowser wanted us to stop Mario...he wants us to make that Mario never reaches Toad Town, let alone Peach's Castle..." explained the female Magikoopa.

"Didn't Lord Bowser send him crashing through a window?" asked the male Magikoopa.

"Yes, but now he's recovering and he's planning on challenging our king again..." stated Kammy.

"Well, that seems pretty foolish after what happened last time...but I suppose we should do something..." answered Kamek.

"Oh, and now he has a sidekick and he can fly..." explained Kamek's sister.

"He does? Well, that's inconvenient..." stated Kammy's brother.

"Let's go look for him, shall we? I believe that he landed somewhere around Goomba Village..." said Kammy.

Kamek nodded, and he and Kammy went to search for Mario.

 _Meanwhile..._

Mario woke up from his nap. The last thing he remembered is him trying to take on Bowser, only to fail miserably. How exactly did he get so strong? Usually Bowser didn't have that kind of power. He was expecting to at least put up a good fight even if he didn't win.

Perhaps he needed to do a bit more jumping and hammering.

Suddenly, he realized that he wasn't at Peach's Castle anymore. He was in some sort of Toad House.

He decided to look around.

Curious, he noticed that he was in some sort of village.

"Good to see you're finally up, Mario! You were unconscious but a boy rescued you!" exclaimed Toad.

Mario wondered who that rescuer could possibly be.

"Huh? What does he look like? He has white hair and wears an orange shirt..." explained the resident of Goomba Village who surprisingly was not a Goomba.

Curious, Mario stepped outside.

Sure enough, there he was.

"Hey, Mario!" exclaimed Lincoln.

Mario waved.

"Do you need anything?" asked the middle child of the Loud Family.

Mario explained what was going on.

"You're trying to save the princess? I should have known...you've been doing it for years..." acknowledged Lincoln.

Mario nodded.

"Well, before you do that, you should head to Shooting Star Summit...I doubt that you could take on Bowser without backup..." noted the boy.

Mario agreed. This was NOT going to be a solo adventure this time. In fact, it reminded him of when he, Bowser, Peach, Mallow, and Geno attempted to save the Mushroom Kingdom from Smithy. Where were Mallow and Geno now?

"Anyways, good luck...you need to go to Shooting Star Summit...the Star Spirits want to talk to you." said Lincoln.

Suddenly, Mario raised his hand.

"What? You want me to come with? I don't know, I wouldn't want to get in your way..." stated the boy. Compared to Mario, he wasn't popular at all, even if he did have a lot of sisters.

Mario raised his hand again.

"Oh, that's right, I saved you from falling off of Peach's Castle. That was pretty heroic...I suppose I might as well since I need to look for my sisters..." noted Lincoln.

Mario asked Lincoln a question.

"How many sisters do I have? I have ten..." explained the freckled boy.

Mario gasped in astonishment.

"I know...you on the other hand have only one brother...maybe you have things easy..." acknowledged Lincoln.

Mario wondered what it would be like if he had ten different siblings. Would they all be dressed in different colors just as Luigi chose to dress in green while he chose to dress in red?

"Anyways, let's leave Goomba Village, shall we?" asked the boy.

Mario nodded.

At that very moment, Goombario showed up.

"Hey there, Mario! I'm your biggest fan in the history of ever! Can I get your autograph?" asked Goombario.

Mario nodded and signed his autograph for Goombario.

"Thank you!" exclaimed the Goomba wearing a hat.

"Goombario's about as much of a fan of yours as Kooper is a fan of Kolorado...wait, whose Kooper?" questioned Goomama.

Mario shrugged.

"I think I might know..." answered Lincoln.

Currently, Goompapa was trying to fix the fence.

"Why does this fence keep getting broken?" questioned Goompapa.

Finally, he managed to fix it.

"Alright! I did it!" exclaimed Goombario's father.

"Way to go, honey!" shouted Goomama.

Suddenly, Kammy and Kamek showed up.

"Huh, I don't remember Kamek being in this game." questioned Lincoln. Wasn't he in Paper Mario: Sticker Star?

"Who are you two old guys?" asked Goombaria.

"Don't call us old! I'm young and beautiful!" exclaimed Kammy.

"Well, we're not who we used to be..." answered Kamek.

"Don't encourage her!" bellowed the female Magikoopa.

"Sorry." apologized the male Magikoopa.

"So, you want to go out there and take down Bowser and his minions, don't you? I can't say I approve of that...we'll just have to do something!" exclaimed Kammy.

Immediately, she summoned a Yellow Block to block the way out of Goomba Village.

"You think that will stop me? I'll just fly over it!" exclaimed Lincoln.

However, as soon as he attempted to do so, he was attacked by a Thwomp.

"We thought of that..." answered Kamek.

As it turned out, Kamek had summoned a Thwomp to ensure that Lincoln couldn't simply fly over the block and bypass it entirely.

Lincoln sighed and went back to the ground. The Thwomp remained on top of the block, ready to keep an eye on him.

Kamek and Kammy then flew away.

"Darn it! I just fixed that fence!" exclaimed Goompapa.

Mario wondered what they should do.

"I guess I'll just have to find a way past that Thwomp...for now, why don't you go look for help?" questioned Lincoln.

Mario nodded. Maybe Goombario's grandparents could give them a hand.

Immediately, he entered Goombario's house.

"Can I help you?" asked Gooma.

Mario explained the situation to Gooma.

"There's an enormous block blocking the way out of Goomba Village? You'll have to see my husband." explained the elderly Goomba.

Mario nodded, and went to see Goompa.

However, he ended up falling outside the building for his trouble. And it had felt like a few minutes ago that he had been beaten by Bowser and had fallen from Peach's Castle too.

And this time, there was no Lincoln to save him.

"Mamamia..." murmured Mario.

Sure enough, there was Goompa, who was looking for a way back to his house.

"Yeah...I could have fixed the veranda a bit better." noted Goompa.

Meanwhile, Lincoln was trying to figure out how he was going to get past the Thwomp.

Unfortunately, it appeared that the Thwomp was watching the skies rather carefully. It would be dangerous for him to even get too close.

What was he do?

Curious, he decided to lie in front of a tree and think.

However, as he did so, the tree began to shake. One of its roots had become undone.

"Did I do that?" questioned Lincoln.

Curious, Lincoln tried punching the tree.

Several of its leaves began to shake.

Suddenly, he then remembered that one of Ace Savvy's powers was superhuman strength...among other things, such as flying as Lincoln now had.

He then got an idea.

Carefully sneaking his way out of the Thwomp's sight, he grabbed onto the Yellow Block he was guarding.

The Thwomp collapsed on the floor, wondering what was happening.

He then witnessed a Yellow Block heading straight towards him.

"I'm not getting paid enough for this." remarked the Thwomp.

Immediately, he was sent flying into the distance.

"Yes! Now we can go shopping!" exclaimed Goomama.

"Can you get me a razor so I can shave my mustache?" asked Goompapa.

Goomama and Goompapa left the village, leaving Goombario and Goombaria in the care of their grandparents.

"I guess I should tell Mario the good news..." noted Lincoln.

However, when he looked around, he noticed that Mario didn't seem to be anywhere in the area.

"Where did he go?" questioned the boy.

He decided to look around the village for him.

Hopefully, he was alright.

 _Well, it looks like Mario and Lincoln are going to have to find a way out of Goomba Village. In the next chapter, they're going to encounter Jr._ _Troopa...and it won't be the last time they encounter him either._

 _Bye!_


	3. Chapter 3: Jr Troopa The Bully

_In this chapter, Mario and Lincoln are going to encounter Jr. Troopa. Seems he doesn't like it when people enter his playground. And it won't be the last that they see of him, either._

 _Also, Lincoln is going to find one of his sisters...one down, nine to go._

 **Chapter 3: Jr. Troopa The Bully**

Since there was a yellow block blocking their way back to Goomba Village, Goompa and Mario decided to look in the nearby playground for something that could help them. Surely even a block of that size could be toppled somehow.

However, Goompa didn't seem too happy about entering this place. In fact, he seemed somewhat nervous.

Mario decided to ask him why. It didn't seem like a bad place to be in at first glance.

"Be careful, Mario, this is Jr. Troopa's Playground. He's not going to like it if he catches us in his territory." warned Goompa. Fortunately, it appeared that Jr. Troopa wasn't actually in his playground at the moment...though he was likely going to return sooner or later. He just put in a jungle gym.

Mario noted that perhaps it would be best if they left the playground quickly before they were noticed. They had no idea when Jr. Troopa was going to be back.

Quickly, he decided to look around for something that could help them. There had to be something useful inside the playground.

At that very moment, Lincoln showed up.

"Oh no! It's Jr. Troopa! He's here!" exclaimed Goompa. It looks like they were going to have to cut their visit to the playground short.

Curious, Mario decided to turn around.

However, as Goompa quickly discovered, it actually WASN'T Jr. Troopa.

"No, it's me." answered Lincoln.

"False alarm." said the elderly Goomba. His vision wasn't what it used to be.

"Do you need help with something?" asked the boy. He noticed that Mario and Goompa seemed to be looking for something, though he wasn't sure yet what it was.

Curious, Mario decided to shake a nearby tree. It seemed like there was something on top.

He continued shaking and shaking the tree.

Suddenly, something fell from one of the branches.

He decided to pick up to see what it was.

Mario had discovered a doll of Princess Peach. They were selling quite well on the market. Whoever came up with them was a genius.

Maybe someday someone would start selling Mario plushies...though he wondered if someone was ever going to do the same for his brother. He just wasn't as popular as his older brother was.

"I wonder why Jr. Troopa has a Princess Peach doll..." questioned Goompa.

"Beats me." stated the boy. "Wait, whose Jr. Troopa?" He had never heard of him.

"He's a bully who goes after Goombas that are leaving Goomba Village..." explained the elderly Goomba. Apparently he wanted their lunch money.

"Oh..." comprehended Lincoln.

Eventually, Mario found a hammer. This would be a boon if he ever encountered some Spinies.

"Did you find something useful?" asked Goompa.

Mario nodded. Maybe he could use this to get rid of the Yellow Blocks that were always getting in his way.

However, as Mario and Lincoln were getting ready to leave, Jr. Troopa showed up.

"I think I'll use the swings today." stated the young Koopa who never left his eggshell.

Suddenly, he noticed Mario and Lincoln in his playground. It looked like it was too late for them to hide.

His eyes widened in shock.

It looked like he had some uninvited guests. What were they even doing there?

"Hey! This is my playground! Get out of here!" exclaimed Jr. Troopa.

"We'll just be leavi-"

Before Lincoln could finish that sentence, Jr. Troopa charged right towards Mario and Lincoln.

Quickly, Lincoln picked up Mario so that he crashed into a tree instead.

"Ow..." murmured Jr. Troopa.

"May I ask you why there's a Princess Peach doll in your playground?" asked Lincoln.

"I have...no idea how that got there." lied the bully.

"Alright then..." answered the boy.

Immediately, Jr. Troopa got ready to battle Mario and Lincoln.

He pulled out an egg and threw it at Mario.

Quickly, he ducked over it.

It hit a nearby tree and splattered.

"Darn it! I missed!" exclaimed Jr. Troopa. Maybe he needed to work on his aim a bit more.

Lincoln picked up Jr. Troopa and began to shake him silly.

"I'm getting dizzy!" exclaimed the Koopa. Already he was starting to feel sick to his stomach.

Since he didn't feel like hurting kids, he dropped him shortly afterwards.

Though now that he thought of it, Jr. Troopa WAS pretty mean for a child.

Since he was dizzy, Mario hit him with his hammer.

"Alright! That's it! No more games! I'm charging up!" exclaimed Jr. Troopa.

Immediately, he charged up to increase his strength.

Mario wondered if he could learn that ability somehow.

Jr. Troopa then charged at Mario and hit him in the face. Apparently, he was a lot faster now.

"Ow!" exclaimed Mario.

"You alright, Mario?" asked Lincoln.

Mario nodded. He survived falling from a great height, surely he would be fine.

Mario jumped on top of Jr. Troopa and he fell to the ground.

"Wah! I lost!" cried the Koopa.

"Maybe you need to stop bullying..." suggested Goompa.

"Fine, you win. But I'll be back, Mario and...what's your name?" declared Jr. Troopa.

"It's Lincoln." answered Lincoln.

"Right...I'll be back for you too! Next time, I'll win!" exclaimed the young Koopa.

Immediately, Jr. Troopa decided to flee. Maybe he could find another playground somewhere...one that was better than the playground that he already owned.

"You think he'll be back?" questioned Lincoln.

Mario shrugged.

"I suppose if we beat him once we could always beat him again." noted the boy.

Now that Jr. Troopa was out of the picture, Mario and Lincoln decided to make their way back to Goomba Village. It wasn't a long way back, right?

In the process, they smashed the block that was in their way.

However, they quickly noticed that there was trouble up ahead.

Several Goombas were outside, and judging from the graffiti they were writing, they didn't like Mario too much.

"Careful, Mario! These Goombas must be working for Bowser!" warned Goompa.

"Yeah...I think they want to take you to the dungeon..." noted Lincoln. He still remembered when Bowser's minions had tried to capture him along with everyone else that was attending the party. It was rather fortunate that he had managed to escape, though it would be a good idea to head back to the castle to try to rescue everyone else that hadn't been so lucky.

Of course, it would probably be a good idea not to head back just yet. What if they shot Banzai Bills at him this time?

Suddenly, one of the Goombas noticed Mario. He was surprised that he was actually in the area. Shouldn't be at Bowser's Castle trying to rescue the princess?

Oh wait, that's right, Bowser was invincible. There was no way that Mario would be able to pull that off now.

Immediately, he decided to alert his friends so that they could gang up on the plumber.

"Hey, it's Mario! Let's get him!" exclaimed one of the Goombas.

Immediately, the Goombas rushed towards the trio.

Fortunately, as Lincoln knew from playing Mario games, Goombas were not something that Mario needed to worry about.

Mario leapt on one Goomba while Lincoln punched another.

'Hey, didn't I see you at the party?" questioned the Goomba as Lincoln punched him.

As they went down, Mario and Lincoln got Star Points.

"Why do I feel like I'm getting stronger?" questioned Lincoln. He had started feeling like that ever since he had taken on Jr. Troopa and won.

"When you beat up your foes, you get Star Points!" explained Goompa.

"Oh, right..." answered the boy. Perhaps it was only a matter of time before he and Mario leveled up.

However, they quickly noticed that some of the Goombas had wings. Others had spikes on their heads.

It would probably be best not to jump on the Spiked Goombas and not to hammer the Paragoombas. If they tried doing the former, THEY would the ones ending up getting hurt, not the Spiked Goombas.

In other words...they should try doing the opposite by hammering the Spiked Goombas and jumping on the flying ones.

Immediately, Mario hammered a Spiked Goomba while Lincoln punched a Paragoomba.

"So much for using spikes..." remarked a Spiked Goomba.

"And so much for wings..." noted a Paragoomba.

Perhaps they needed to change their strategy so that they would actually be a threat to Mario.

After getting past the Goombas that were in path, Mario, Lincoln, and Goompa made it back to Goomba Village.

"We're back!" exclaimed Goompa.

"There you are! I was worried about you!" shouted Gooma.

"Be more careful fixing the veranda next time!" warned Goomama.

"We'll just have to seal off the door." noted Goompapa.

Immediately, he went into the house in order to lock it.

At that very moment, Lincoln felt rather sleepy. Making his way back to the village made him feel rather tired.

He decided to take a rest.

However, a few minutes after he began snoozing, the Toad suddenly came in. He seemed to be in a hurry about something.

"Emergency diaper change!" exclaimed the Toad.

"Huh?" asked Lincoln as he woke up. What was this about a diaper change? Did Toads wear diapers?

One thing was for sure, that diaper was quite smelly. It was times like this when he wished that he had a bad sense of smell. But as it was, he did not.

"Hey there, I'm just changing the baby I adopted..." said the Toad.

Immediately, he threw away the smelly diaper in the trash can so that nobody else had to smell it.

"That's nice..." noted the white-haired boy.

"Yeah...I found her right outside Goomba Village...I decided to take her in since she didn't seem to have anywhere else to go..." explained the owner of the Toad House.

"That seems familiar..." acknowledged Lincoln.

"All done!" exclaimed Toad.

"Lincoln!" shouted the baby.

"Look! She can talk!" shouted the housekeeper.

"Yeah, I guess she can...wait a minute." answered Lincoln. How did the baby know his name?

Curious, he decided to take a look at the baby. That voice sounded familiar now that he thought of it.

As soon as he realized who the baby he was, he gasped in shock.

It was none other than his sister Lily!

"There you are! I was wondering where you were!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"Lincoln!" cheered Lily.

"Do you two know each other?" asked the Toad.

"That's my sister!" answered the boy.

"Your sister?" questioned the Goomba village resident. Now that he thought of it, he had heard Lily mutter her brother's name while she was sleeping. He had also heard Lily mutter names such as "Lisa" or "Lori".

"Er, you wouldn't happen to know where any of my other sisters are, would you?" asked Lincoln.

Immediately, Lincoln pulled out a picture of himself along with his ten sisters. They were all outside their house, posing for the camera. It had taken some work so that they would all fit in the same picture, but it was all worth it.

"Someone has a lot of sisters!" exclaimed the Toad.

"I know..." nodded the boy.

"Anyways. I haven't seen them...just your baby sister. Sorry." spoke the housekeeper. Perhaps the other Toads at the other houses knew more?

Lincoln sighed. Well, at least he knew where one of them was and that she was safe.

"Well then, I'll just let you babysit my sister and-"

Suddenly, someone grabbed his arm.

Curious, Lincoln turned around and noticed that Lily had done so.

"Huh? You want to come with?" questioned Lincoln. He actually wasn't expecting that.

Lily nodded.

"I don't know...it's going to be dangerous there." warned the boy.

Lily wouldn't budge.

"Bowser and his minions might capture you!" exclaimed Lincoln.

Lily still wouldn't budge.

"You won't get to sleep in a crib!" continued Lily's brother.

Lily grabbed Lincoln's other arm.

"You're really persistent, huh?" questioned Lincoln.

Lily nodded. She wanted to be her with her brother Lincoln even if he was going on a long trip.

"Well, I suppose if you insist..." answered the boy. Perhaps it would be fun going on an adventure with his baby sister. After all, he did things with his family most of the time.

Lily giggled.

Immediately, she and Lincoln exited the Toad House.

"I'm going to miss the baby girl..." noted the Toad.

On the other hand, he wouldn't have to clean her stinky diapers anymore. He was worried that he was going to pass out.

Meanwhile, Mario was getting a badge from Goompa.

"You should take this with you on your adventures!" exclaimed Goompa. It would be quite useful.

As it turned out, it was a Power Jump badge.

Mario happily leapt into the air.

"You'll want to use that if you get into trouble..." suggested the elderly Goomba.

Mario nodded.

Suddenly, Goombario asked his mother something.

"What? You want to go with Mario?" asked Goomama.

"I'm a big fan of his! Of course I do!" exclaimed Goombario.

"I suppose you are getting older..." acknowledged Goombario's mother.

Goombario's parents nodded.

"Woohoo!" exclaimed Goombario.

Mario noted that perhaps he was going to gain a lot of partners on his journey.

At that very moment, Lincoln exited the Toad House.

"Hello!" exclaimed Lincoln.

Lily giggled.

"Whose the baby?" questioned Goombaria.

"This is my baby sister, Lily...she wants to go with me on an adventure." stated the boy.

Mario cheered. It looked like Lincoln had managed to find one of his ten sisters. Maybe one day he would go on an adventure with his baby counterpart...maybe to take on an alien race or something. You never know.

For now, he would simply stick to racing. Despite Baby Mario being very young, he was a rather good driver. In fact, the same applied to his brother's baby counterpart, though he was much more nervous about racing than his older brother. What if he ended up being knocked off the road?

However, he wondered where the rest of Lincoln's siblings were. They could be throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. At least he knew where his brother Luigi was.

Well, they had better start looking. For now, it would be best to head to Shooting Star Summit. The Star Spirits would probably be able to help them.

Suddenly, Goombaria noticed that Mario was carrying something that belonged to her.

"Hey, Mario! That doll you have...it belongs to me! Where did you find it?" questioned Goombaria.

Mario explained that he had gotten it from Jr. Troopa's Playground.

"I knew he was a kleptomaniac..." remarked Goombario's sister.

Mario returned the doll to Goombaria.

"Thanks...you can have this lavender blanket I found in a tree..." answered the female Goomba. She wondered who THAT blanket belonged to.

As soon as Lily saw the blanket, her jaw dropped.

"Blankey!" exclaimed Lily.

"Your blanket? How did that get there?" questioned Lincoln.

Perhaps Lily was holding onto her blanket when she had got swallowed inside that portal.

Immediately, she began to hug it tightly.

"Well, at least you won't have to go without it..." noted the boy. He knew how much Lily liked that blanket...just like he liked his Ace Savvy comics. Of course, since he had comic book superheroes, maybe he DIDN'T need his Ace Savvy comics for this adventure.

Lily nodded. She didn't want to go anywhere without her precious belongings.

 _Well, this is rather fortunate. Mario now has a partner and Lincoln found one of his sisters. In case you don't remember, Lincoln now has nine sisters left to go. However, he's not going to find them as easily as he found Lily._

 _In the next chapter, Mario and Lincoln are going to encounter a road block on their way to Toad Town...fortunately, Goombario and Lily are going to come in handy._


	4. Chapter 4: Hail To The King

_In this chapter, Lincoln and Mario are trying to get to Toad Town. However, they're not going to be able to get to Toad Town without a fight...the evil Goomba King is guarding the way there._

 _Fortunately, since Lily and Goombario are on their sides, they won't have to take him on alone. He's kind of...huge._

 **Chapter 4: Hail To The King**

Shortly after they exited Goomba Village, Goombario began to tell them information about their surroundings.

Apparently, if they kept heading east, they would be able to get to Toad Town from there.

Suddenly, Lincoln noticed that there was a tree stump nearby. A hollow tree stump.

There was a small hole in the tree stump so that he could see what was inside.

As it turned out, there was a Star Piece.

"I see something shiny in there...it looks valuable." questioned Lincoln.

"That's a Star Piece...you can trade them for badges." explained Goombario.

"Awesome! But how am I going to get it?" inquired the boy.

"I guess you're just going to have to think of something." answered the Goomba.

Unfortunately, though Lincoln could look through the hole, it wasn't big enough for his hand to go through.

And when he tried flying through the hole on the top of the tree stump, he found that he was too big to go through as well.

And he couldn't simply use his fists to punch through the trees...he heard his sister Luan was secretly an activist.

"There's got to be a way to get that Star Piece somewhere..." said Lincoln.

"Don't ask me...I don't have hands." answered Goombario.

Suddenly, Lily poked Lincoln in the back.

"Huh?" asked Lincoln.

Curious, he decide to try something.

Immediately, he picked up Lily and tossed her into the hole at the top of the tree stump.

She came out a few minutes later holding the Star Piece.

"Way to go, Lily!" exclaimed Lincoln.

Lily giggled.

Curious, Lincoln noticed that there was another hollow tree stump ahead.

He decided to send Lily into that tree stump as well.

"I wonder what's in this one." said Lincoln.

He took a look in the hole.

As it turned out, there were two Goombas in the hollow tree stump.

"Uh-oh." stated the boy.

"Did you hear? Mario and his friends are on their way to Toad Town!" exclaimed one of the Goombas.

"I'd like to see them try...the only way they're getting there is getting past the Goomba King!" shouted the other Goomba.

"Beating Mario for him will be like taking candy from a baby!" shouted the first Goomba.

Inside the tree stump, Lily was licking a lollipop.

Suddenly, the Goombas noticed her.

"Speaking of taking candy from a baby..." said the first Goomba, getting an idea.

Suddenly, the first Goomba began trying to yank the lollipop away from Lily.

However, she refused to let go.

"Um, I think I might need some help here..." asked the first Goomba for assistance.

The second Goomba nodded, and attempted to join in.

However, they couldn't pry the lollipop from Lily's hands.

Suddenly, Lily began to feel queasy.

She proceeded to vomit on the two Goombas.

The Goombas screamed and cried, and they immediately bounced out of the tree stump using a trampoline.

"I want my mommy!" screamed one of the two Goombas.

"I wonder what happened to them..." questioned Lincoln.

Mario shrugged.

Lily bounced out of the tree stump a few seconds later.

"You alright, Lily? Wait, how are you getting out of the tree stumps?" questioned Lincoln.

"Boing! Boing!" exclaimed Lily.

"There's a trampoline in there? Who would have thought of it...well, we shouldn't question things that we like...like why I like Ace Savvy comics..." noted the boy.

Lily decided not to question why she liked her lollipop so much either. She just continued licking it. It was tasty and sweet.

At that very moment, more Goombas showed up.

"Two of our friends told us that you vomited on them! You're disgusting!" bellowed one of the Goombas.

"Lily, did you do that?" questioned Lincoln.

Lily let out a burp.

"For that, you're going to pay!" exclaimed a Paragoomba.

Immediately, the Goombas stacked together to form a Goomba Tower.

"Uh-oh!" exclaimed Lily. It looked like they might be in trouble. That Goomba Tower was bigger than each of them combined...though considering how small Lily and Goombario were maybe that wasn't saying that much.

"We might want to avoid provoking the Goombas in the future..." suggested Lincoln.

Mario asked Goombario what they should do.

"Maybe we should find a way to knock them all down..." advised Goombario.

Immediately, the Goomba Tower charged towards the four of them, careful to keep balance so that the tower didn't end up toppling over. Fortunately for them, they were rather good at it.

Quickly, Mario pulled out his hammer.

As soon as the Goomba Tower was close enough, Mario swung the hammer at the Goomba Tower.

Immediately, the five Goombas were scattered in different directions.

"What happened?" asked the Goomba who was on top of the tower.

"Beats me." answered the Goomba at the bottom of the tower. At least he didn't have to carry the other Goombas anymore.

Suddenly, Lily whacked one of the Goombas on the head with her rattle, giggling as she did so.

"Ow!" exclaimed the Goomba. That really hurt.

In fact, he wasn't feeling too well.

Immediately, he became dizzy.

"Hmm...for a baby your sister seems to be a bit strong." noted Goombario.

"She sure is...wait, did I tell you about my family?" asked Lincoln Loud.

"Well, I heard that you have ten sisters..." answered the Goomba boy.

"I see." nodded the middle child of the Loud House.

Goombario headbonked yet another Goomba.

"Wait, if you're a Goomba then shouldn't you be on OUR side?" questioned the Goomba as he was attacked.

"You're assuming that all Goombas work for Bowser." answered Goombario.

"Oh." comprehended Bowser's flunky.

Mario jumped on another Goomba while Lincoln gave another a punch.

Eventually, all of the Goombas burst into Star Points. They had won.

"We better warn the Goomba King!" exclaimed the leader of the Goombas.

Immediately, the Goombas ran to do just that.

Suddenly, Lincoln leveled up.

Immediately, three different blocks appeared.

"Should I choose HP, FP, or BP? I'm not even sure what those are..." answered Lincoln.

"HP determines how much damage you can take before you get KOed...FP determines how many times you can use your extraordinary abilities before you have to recharge them somehow...BP determines how many badges you can hold..." explained Goombario.

"I think I get it..." nodded the boy.

Immediately, he chose HP. He didn't want to get beaten up.

Mario wondered when he was going to level up as well. Surely it would be soon, right?

"What's this about a Goomba King?" questioned Lincoln.

"He's the leader of the Goombas underneath Bowser's command...I don't think that he's a strong opponent, but we'll probably have to face him sooner or later." answered Goombario.

Lily pulled out her rattle. She was ready.

Quickly, Mario noticed a fortress out in the distance. Perhaps that was where the Goomba King was hiding.

However, as they approached the fortress, it became apparent that it was guarded.

"Hey! Keep away from the Goomba King's Castle!" exclaimed a Goomba that was dubiously colored red.

Since he was a lowly minion he probably wasn't holding any Star Spirits...but they should probably defeat him anyway. Since Toad Town was nearby he would probably be a threat to the Toads living there.

"But we need to get to Toad Town..." pointed out Goombario.

"Well, you probably wouldn't want to go there anyway...in case you haven't heard the news, Peach's Castle was lifted out of the sky and into outer space! So you won't be able to visit the princess if that's what you're wondering..." answered Blue Goomba.

"That's a disappointment..." noted Lincoln.

"Well, if you insist on fighting us, then so be it!" exclaimed Red Goomba.

Immediately, the two of them began to attack the four of them.

Lily started by tossing toy blocks at the two Goombas.

"Ow!" exclaimed the Red Goomba.

"That hurt!" shouted the Blue Goomba.

Lily giggled.

Suddenly, the Red Goomba took Lily's blanket.

"Maybe the Goomba King will like a present..." remarked the Red Goomba.

Lily began to cry.

This did not amuse Lincoln.

"Nobody steals from my sister!" bellowed Lincoln. Admittedly, he had tossed Lily's blanket in the trash can once...but he thought that she had outgrown it at that point and didn't need it anymore.

Immediately, he punched the Red Goomba in the face.

"Ow! My beautiful face!" exclaimed the Red Goomba.

"Quit bullying my older brother!" demanded the Blue Goomba.

In retaliation, he headbonked Lincoln.

"Ow! I'm probably going to have a headache later..." remarked Lincoln. He was starting to lose HP.

This time, it was Mario's turn to attack.

Immediately, he hammered the Blue Goomba.

"Ow! I was under the impression that he would jump on top of me..." questioned the Blue Goomba.

Mario noted that was what he did...about half the time.

In retaliation, the Red Goomba hit Mario on the nose.

"Oof!" exclaimed Mario.

However, at this point, the Red Goomba and the Blue Goomba were both starting to feel tired.

"You sure we're not...over our heads?" asked the Red Goomba.

"I don't think...the Goomba King...would like it...if we let Mario in..." remarked the Blue Goomba.

"True..." nodded the red Goomba.

Suddenly, Goombario pulled out a Fire Flower.

"What the-" exclaimed the two Goombas.

Immediately, the two Goombas were pelted with fireballs.

Both Goombas decided to retreat. They could not beat Mario and Lincoln by themselves.

"Let's get out of here!" bellowed the Red Goomba.

"I'm with you, brother!" exclaimed the Blue Goomba.

The two of them decided to retreat.

In the process, they dropped the blanket that they had stolen from Lily.

"Blankey!" cheered Lily, picking up her precious belonging.

"Looks like I showed them whose boss!" exclaimed Goombario.

Mario gave Goombario the thumbs up.

"I still think that we need to take on their king though..." noted Lincoln.

Lily nodded. Could they handle him?

They decided to find out.

Immediately, the Goombas Bros. went to report to their leader about the bad news.

"Help us, Goomba King!" bellowed the Red Goomba.

"Mario and his friends beat us up!" exclaimed the Blue Goomba.

"What? Mario's here? I thought he was stuck in Goomba Village behind an enormous yellow block..." questioned the Goomba King.

"Well, apparently, he managed to find a way to break it." explained the Red Goomba.

"I guess we better give him a warm welcome..." answered the Goomba King.

"Speaking of warm, his Goomba sidekick hit us with a Fire Flower." noted the Blue Goomba.

The Goomba King sighed. His minions had clearly bitten off more than they could chew.

At that very moment, Mario and Lincoln showed up.

The Red Goomba and Blue Goomba gasped in shock.

"It's him! It's Mario!" bellowed the Blue Goomba.

"What do we do?" inquired the Red Goomba.

"What else? Get ready to fight!" exclaimed the Goomba King.

"But we're still tired after our last battle with Mario..." explained the Blue Goomba.

"Then I guess I'll have to deal with them myself..." answered the king.

"Count on us then...I guess." said the Red Goomba.

Immediately, the Goomba King stomped out of his castle.

"That must be the Goomba King!" exclaimed Goombario.

"There's no doubt about it." nodded Lincoln.

Lily began to shiver in fear.

"So, Mario, I see that you've bene trouncing Goombas lately...well, now you'll have to deal with me, the King of the Goombas! You're going straight in the castle moat!" exclaimed the Goomba King.

"You do realize that I can fly, right?" asked Lincoln.

"In that case, you're going to the dungeon!" bellowed the king.

"Awww..." said the young boy.

Immediately, the Goomba King began to attack the four of them along with the three Goombas.

"What should we do? This guy is huge!" exclaimed Lincoln.

Mario added that not only was the Goomba King huge, but he did not come alone. His two henchmen were with him...though admittedly they were still worn out from their previous encounter.

"Well, I suppose you could try jumping on top of them..." suggested Goombario.

Mario noted that was good advice. That always seemed to do the trick against the Goombas...though admittedly he was up against a HUGE Goomba.

Suddenly, Lincoln noticed that Lily was missing.

"Wait, where's Lily?" questioned Lincoln. "Don't tell me I lost her again!"

"Hahahahaha!" laughed Lily.

Lincoln turned around, and noticed that Lily was shaking a nearby tree.

"What is she doing?" asked Lincoln.

"Well, it's a Goomnut tree...it tends to grow around this area..." answered Goombario.

Suddenly, several Goomnuts began to fall on the tree.

One of them fell on top of the Goomba King.

"Ow! What the-" exclaimed the Goomba King.

Two of them fell on top of the Goomba Bros.

They passed out on the floor.

"My minions! Darn you!" bellowed the king of the Goombas.

"Way to go, Lily!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"I'm going to send you to my playpen of doom!" screamed the Goomba King.

Immediately, he charged towards Lily.

However, Lily pulled out a bottle of milk and used it to squirt milk into the king's eyes.

"My eyes! I'm blind!" screamed the Goomba King.

Instead of charging into Lily, he charged into the Goomnut Tree instead.

"Ow!" exclaimed the Goomba King as more Goomnuts fell on top of him.

At this point, the Goomba King realized that he was fighting a losing battle.

"Um, I could use a little help here..." said the king.

Suddenly, several Goombas appeared to assist the Goomba King. Lincoln noted that since he joined Mario on his journey that the difficulty level of the game had been altered.

However, they would not go down so easily.

Immediately, Mario jumped from Goomba to Goomba.

As he did so, the Goombas all collapsed to the ground.

"I will not be defeated! I shall remain strong!" exclaimed the Goomba King.

Suddenly, Lily approached him wearing a squirrel costume.

She entered the Goomba King's pants.

"I've got a squirrel in my pants!" screamed the king.

Frantically, he began to run around uncontrollably.

Eventually, he fell into the chasm where the bridge to Toad Town previously was.

"Aahhhhh!" screamed the Goomba King.

Fortunately for Lily, she leapt out of the Goomba King's pants before she fell too.

The Goomba King hit several different rocks before hitting the bottom.

"Impossible! I'm a king! I cannot lose...not to an infant!" exclaimed the king.

Immediately, the Goomba King gave up his Star Points.

Mario leveled up.

"Woohoo!" exclaimed Mario.

He decided to spend it on FP so that he could use more powerful jumping abilities.

Lily also leveled up as well, oddly enough.

As a reward for leveling up, she got a pacifier.

Immediately, she began to suck on it.

A few seconds later, the Red Goomba and Blue Goomba woke up and pulled out a rope so that the Goomba King could get back up.

"I cannot believe that I lost!" exclaimed the king.

"At least Mario doesn't know about the secret switch..." remarked the Blue Goomba.

Suddenly, Lily spotted the secret switch in the bushes.

"Huh?" asked Lily.

She decided to hit it with the rattle.

"Nooooooo!" screamed the Goomba King.

Immediately, the Goomba King and his two cohorts were sent flying.

Also, his castle turned into a bridge.

"I guess we can get to Toad Town now..." noted Goombario.

Mario leapt into the air in excitement.

Immediately, the four of them crossed the bridge so that they could get to town.

Unbeknownst to them, Kamek and Kammy were watching.

"I guess we should tell Bowser what happened..." answered Kammy.

"Huh. I guess kings really don't rule forever." remarked Kamek. It was a good thing that Bowser had a successor to his throne in the form of his son, Bowser Jr.

Quickly, the two of them flied towards Peach's Castle.

 _And the Goomba King is down! Isn't that a relief. However, Kammy Koopa is aware that Mario and Lincoln are heading back to Toad Town, so they're going to prepare accordingly._

 _Our heroes will be facing more challenging opponents shortly. You didn't think that they would be fighting only Goombas, did you?_


	5. Chapter 5: Twink The Star Kid

_In this chapter, we're going to hear from Bowser the Koopa King. So long that he has the Star Spirits, nobody can stop him. However, Mario is about to learn where one of the Star Spirits is._

 **Chapter 5: Twink The Star Kid**

At Peach's Castle up in the sky, Kammy was heading back to Bowser's castle to give him some important information.

Currently, Bowser was relaxing on Peach's throne.

Bowser smiled in satisfaction.

"Now that I've got the Star Rod, nobody can stop me...not even that moron Mario..." noted Bowser.

It had been a wise move to steal the Star Rod. Now he was invincible!

Still, he did admit that things had gotten a bit boring now that Mario wasn't there to stop him. What was he supposed to do now? Sit on Peach's throne all day and eat drumsticks?

Well, he did enjoy sitting on the throne and eating drumsticks.

However, at that very moment, Kammy showed in. To be honest, he was hoping that she would show up.

"We've got some bad news, your majesty! Mario defeated the Goomba King!" bellowed Kammy.

"Huh. You'd think he would have learned his lesson after I sent him flying out that window..." answered Bowser. He was invincible! Why was Mario still fighting against him?

"And to make matters worse he appears to have some friends...one of them is a Goomba...one of them is a young boy...and one of them is a baby!" exclaimed the Magikoopa.

"One of them is a baby?" questioned Bowser.

"Yes, one of them is a baby. A REALLY tough baby. She defeated the Goomba King!" exclaimed Kammy.

"I allowed him to be a king like myself and he lost to a baby?! Well, you did say that he was a tough baby...but I was expecting more from him!" bellowed his royal nastiness.

"I had a feeling that he would fail." agreed the Magikoopa.

"By the way, what did you do to the Star Spirits? I was wondering where you put them after you sealed them away in those playing cards..." questioned the Koopa King.

"Oh, that. I decided to hide them all across the Mushroom Kingdom. I figure it would be much more difficult for Mario and his friends to find them that way." explained Kammy.

"Good idea." nodded Bowser.

"I also arranged for your minions to guard them so that Mario wouldn't be able to get them even if he DID find them...I decided that I would be cautious." answered the Magikoopa.

"Which minions are guarding which Star Spirit?" asked the Koopa King.

"Well, they're each stronger than the Goomba King, I can tell you that!" exclaimed Kammy.

"Which one do you think Mario will try to get first?" inquired Bowser.

"Probably the elderly one...he's the one that sent him to Shooting Star Summit in the first place..." answered the female Magikoopa.

"And where is he?" questioned the Koopa King.

"He's in the Koopa Bros. Fortress, guarded by the Koopa Bros..." stated Kammy.

"The Koopa Bros? Aren't they...rather young?" inquired Bowser. He was under the impression that Kammy would send someone older...like herself.

"Yes, but they have a collaboration technique that they've been working on...they tested it on some Bob-Ombs and they were sent flying...although, I heard that there's been dissent among the various minions working for them." explained the sorceress.

"Tell them that if any minion is causing trouble that they can send them to the dungeon...their fortress does have a dungeon, right?" asked the king. He knew that his castle had a dungeon at least. It's where he had put the Toads when they tried to stand up to him.

However, for some strange reason, he got the feeling that there was still one Toad hiding in Peach's Castle somewhere...but maybe he was just imagining things.

"Anything else you want to tell me?" inquired Bowser.

"Well, I'm worried about the boy...I heard that he has ten sisters...and he's already found one of them. If he manages to find all ten we might have some formidable foes on our hands..." explained Kammy.

"He does? Alright then, tell Kamek to fetch me the Koopalings..." answered the Koopa King. He had a feeling that he had a way to counter Lincoln and his sisters...though admittedly there weren't as much Koopalings as Lincoln had sisters.

 _A few minutes later..._

Inside Bowser's castle, Kamek had gathered together the Koopalings, as Bowser had asked. They were notorious for once wreaking havoc throughout the Mushroom Kingdom by turning the various kings of the lands into many different creatures. They had also once kidnapped Peach during her birthday party because they didn't get invited. Why was the birthday cake big enough to fit them all and Bowser Jr. anyway?

The youngest of the Koopalings was Larry. He had a blue mohawk and had a sky blue shell. He also liked to play tennis. He also cheated whenever he played Mario Party.

The second youngest of the Koopalings was Morton. Despite being younger than most of his siblings, he was quite huge. He also looked somewhat different from the rest of his siblings. He had a black shell.

The third youngest of the Koopalings was Wendy. She was the only female of the group, similar to how Lincoln was the only boy in his family. She had a bow on her head and had a pink shell.

The middle of child of the Koopalings was Iggy. He was kind of...crazy. He had glasses on his face, was rather skinny, had a green shell, and had green hair.

The third oldest of the Koopalings was Roy. He wore black sunglasses and was a bully. Also, he had a purple shell. Despite being masculine, both his head and sunglasses were pink.

The second oldest of the Koopalings was Lemmy. Though he was technically the second-oldest of the Koopalings, he was rather small and also rather playful. He had an orange shell and had rainbow-colored hair.

The oldest of the Koopalings was Ludwig. He liked to consider himself the leader of the Koopalings, though the other Koopalings weren't so sure about that. He had a dark blue shell as well as dark blue hair.

"So, why did you gather us all here?" asked Ludwig.

"Yeah! I want to play!" exclaimed Lemmy.

"You're all here because Bowser Koopa wants you to deal with Mario and his friends. His new friend comes from a large family...but of course, so do you. That's where YOU come in." answered Kamek.

"What do you want from us?" asked Roy.

"Oh, it's rather simple. One of you is going to help the Koopa Bros at the fortress to make sure that Mario and his friends don't get their hands on the first Star Spirit. Any volunteers?" asked Kamek.

"I can't go out there! My makeup will run!" exclaimed Wendy.

"Nope. I don't think so." said Morton.

"I heard that there are Bob-Ombs at the fortress...I love the way that they explode! But I think I'll pass..." answered Iggy.

Kamek sighed. This might be harder than he thought.

However, he then noticed something.

"Wait a minute! Larry, I haven't heard from you! Do you have sometihng to say?" asked Kamek.

"You want me to help the Koopa Bros? I'd love to!" exclaimed Larry.

"Alright then. Why don't you go take a Clown Car and head to Koopa Bros. Fortress?" inquired the blue Magikoopa.

"Way ahead of you!" shouted the youngest of the Koopalings.

Immediately, he boarded a Clown Car.

"Koopa Bros. Fortress, here I come!" bellowed Larry.

"You know, this isn't the first time Larry's gotten to be the first of us to battle the Marios..." noted Ludwig.

"I know, right! He's been the first of us to battle Mario no less than three times!" shouted Lemmy.

"You think he'll beat Mario this time?" asked Iggy.

"To be honest, part of me is itching to fight Mario myself..." answered Roy, putting his fists together.

 _A few minutes later..._

"So? Have any of the Koopalings volunteered?" asked Bowser.

"As a matter of fact, they have. Larry's volunteered to assist the Koopa Bros." explained Kamek.

"Good. I'm going to message the guardians to ensure that everything is going according to plan." answered the Koopa King.

Immediately, he pulled his Star Rod.

Shortly afterwards, avatars of the different guardians were summoned.

"Yes, your highness?" asked Red Ninjakoopa.

"How is everything going? Are the Star Spirits right where we want them?" inquired Bowser.

"There's no way that Mario's finding my Star Spirit..." assured Tutankoopa.

"He can't get my Star Spirit! I'm invincible!" bellowed Tubba Blubba.

"My entire Shy Guy army is guarding my Star Spirit! He's not getting it!" exclaimed General Guy.

"My Star Spirit is inside an active volcano! I'd like to see Mario try to get it." said Lava Piranha.

"My Star Spirit is high in the clouds! Mario can't fly! How will he get it?" questioned Huff N' Puff.

"My Star Spirit is inside my castle...he'll freeze before he can even get to me." remarked Crystal King.

"Good. Make sure that it stays that way." answered Bowser.

He waved his Star Rod once more, and the avatars disappeared.

"Since everything is going fine, I think I'll visit Princess Peach! I'm sure that she'll appreciate my company!" exclaimed the Koopa King.

Immediately, he went to go visit Princess Peach.

 _Meanwhile..._

"Ugh, where am I?" questioned Clyde.

Curious, he discovered that for some strange reason he wasn't at Lincoln's house anymore.

As it turned out, he was now in some sort of castle.

"Um, am I dreaming?" inquired the bespectacled boy.

He then remembered that Lisa's device had swallowed him. She needed to take better control of her inventions.

"Oh, that's right." recalled Clyde. Where exactly was he?

He then noticed that this castle seemed...familiar. Like he had seen it in a video game.

"Wait a minute! Lisa's invention put me inside a Mario game! That's rather cool...and yet, the Mario world can also be dangerous...just look at King Boo!" exclaimed Clyde.

Suddenly, at that very moment, Bowser Jr. showed up.

"Speaking of danger...aah!" screamed the boy.

"Who are you? Why haven't my dad's minions captured you yet?" questioned the son of Bowser.

Fortunately for Clyde, he had not run into Bowser, but merely his son. Even so, Bowser Jr. was not the type of person that you would want to meet in the Mario World. After all, he was a villain and a member of the Koopa Troop.

"No matter! I think I'll make you my slave!" exclaimed Bowser Jr.

"Oh no!" bellowed Clyde.

Shortly afterwards, Clyde was forced to scrub Bowser Jr's clown copter.

"Hurry up already! This is my prized possession!" bellowed Bowser Jr.

"I'm hurrying up already!" exclaimed Clyde.

"Good! I think I'll go play with my Princess Peach plushie now..." said the son of the Koopa King.

Immediately, Bowser Jr left to go play with his plushie.

"He has a Princess Peach plushie? How odd." questioned the boy.

Quickly, he set to work on polishing Bowser Jr's Clown Copter. On the lighter side, it wasn't nearly as big as Bowser's Clown Car.

Suddenly, he noticed that there seemed to be a star floating outside. But since when did stars have faces on them? And since when they were actually shaped like stars?

"Hello?" asked Clyde.

"Excuse me? Do you need help with something?" questioned Twink.

"What can you help with me with?" asked the boy. He was hoping that he wouldn't have to be Bowser Jr's slave for the rest of his life.

"I can grant wishes since I'm a Star Kid." explained the Star Kid.

"Can you wish me and Lincoln back home then?" inquired the boy.

"Where is your home?" asked Twink.

"All the way on the other side of the TV screen." explained Clyde.

"I...can't wish that, sorry. You'll need the Star Spirits for that...and the Star Rod." answered Twink.

"Can I have the Star Rod then? Whatever that is?" inquired the boy.

"Sorry, I can't just waltz in and grab the Star Rod out of Bowser's hands. He's too strong for me." explained the Star Kid.

"Dang it! I guess we should go visit Princess Peach then..." answered Clyde. Maybe she would know what to do.

Twink nodded. He had always wanted to meet the princess.

 _A few minutes later..._

"I cannot believe that Mario lost to Bowser! Whose going to rescue the Mushroom Kingdom now?" questioned Princess Peach.

And to make matters worse, Bowser could now grant whatever wishes that he wanted. Fortunately, he seemed content for the time being...but only Bowser himself knew what he was going to wish for next.

Speaking of Bowser, he himself was waltzing in.

"Bowser! What do you want?" asked Princess Peach.

"What do you think, Princess Peach? I finally managed to sort out Mario once and for all...well, maybe not. Apparently he managed to get back on his feet after that walloping I gave him...maybe he's just a glutton for punishment. But not even he can stop me now!" exclaimed Bowser.

"Mario's alright?" inquired the princess.

"Not from lack of trying, princess. But guess what? Without the seven Star Spirits, he's powerless to stop me! My minions have scattered them throughout the Mushroom Kingdom and there's nothing that he can do about it! Gwahahahahaha!" laughed Bowser.

"Mario's going to stop you! He always does!" shouted Peach.

"Stop me? When I can grant all the wishes that I desire? Fat chance! Anyways, let me know if you want any wishes, will you, princess? Just make sure that they're wishes that I would like...you got that?" asked the Koopa King.

Immediately, Bowser left the room.

"I sure hope that Mario can handle all this..." remarked the princess. If what Bowser said was true, Mario had quite an adventure ahead of him.

Then again, it seemed like every day Mario was going on an adventure. He simply loved the thrill of adventure, especially when he rescued the princess like he always did.

However, Peach couldn't help but feel worried. Bowser had an ace in the hole that he didn't have before this time. Mario would have his hands full trying to get around it.

"I wonder if I can help him somehow..." questioned Peach.

At that very moment, Clyde and Twink suddenly revealed themselves from a nearby potted plant.

"What the-who are you?" asked the princess.

Clyde immediately noticed that Princess Peach looked a lot like Lori...and incidentally her sister Leni. He wondered sometimes why he wasn't attracted to Leni as well as Lori. Then again, Leni kept forgetting what his name was.

"I'm...Clyde." said Clyde slowly.

"My name is Twink! Can we help you with anything? Of course, since I'm a Star Kid I can only grant small wishes...we usually save the big wishes for the Star Spirits..." explained Twink.

"Pleased to meet you too. Can you give Mario this? It will allow him to use action commands..." questioned Peach.

"Um, what are action commands?" asked Clyde.

"Mario can use them to potentially increase the strength of his attacks." explained the princess.

"OK." answered the boy.

"That seems reasonable." nodded Twink.

Immediately, he grabbed onto the Shooting Star and began to fly away.

Suddenly, Clyde noticed that there was a treasure chest nearby.

He decided to open it.

As it turned out, there was another Shooting Star inside as well.

"Can you deliver this to Lincoln?" asked Clyde.

Twink stopped in his tracks.

"Another request? The more the merrier I suppose. Granting wishes makes me stronger!" exclaimed Twink.

Immediately, Twink grabbed onto both Shooting Stars and flew away once more.

"I sure hope that Lincoln can survive this..." thought Clyde.

"I hope Mario will be OK..." thought Peach.

 _Well, it looks like Mario's going to visit his star spirit hunt pretty soon. However, the first Star Spirit is guarded by the Koopa Brothers and Larry...you think that he's ready to handle him?_

 _And yes, neither Mario or Lincoln appeared in this chapter, even though they're the stars of the show. Funny how that works, eh? Then again, this was kind of a villains episode..._

 _See you later!_


	6. Chapter 6: Mario And Lincoln's Quest

_In this chapter, we're going to learn what Mario and Lincoln's mission is, though you probably know it already. Also, they're going to take a stop at Toad Town._

 **Chapter 6: Mario And Lincoln's Quest**

As soon as Mario and Lincoln arrived in Toad Town, they immediately noticed that the town was in disarray. It seemed that various Toads were worried about what had befallen Princess Peach and her castle after it had risen into the sky. All that was left of the castle now was an enormous crater.

In addition, there had been many Toads inside the castle attending Princess Peach's party when the castle was lifted as well. They were most likely under lock and key inside Bowser's Castle.

They even heard that Mario had lost to Bowser...as unbelievable as that sounded. Apparently, there was a first time for everything...but they had never expected that Mario would lose to Bowser. They were counting on him to prevent Bowser from causing trouble throughout the kingdoms.

Fortunately, as soon as Mario and Lincoln returned, the Toads stopped panicking.

"Thank goodness! Mario, you're back!" exclaimed the Toads. It looks like one of their wishes had finally been granted, even after what had happened to the seven Star Spirits.

Immediately, the Toads began to cheer. Now that Mario has returned to them, maybe things will start to get better. Of course, their princess and her castle still hadn't returned to them...but at least Mario was at their side once more.

"Um, I wouldn't quite celebrate just yet. We haven't rescued the princess." pointed out Lincoln.

The Toads settled down. He did have a point...but as long as Mario was around there was still hope, right?

"So...are you going to Bowser's Castle so that you can fight Bowser?" asked one of the Toads.

Mario shook his head. He decided that it would be best to save that for later when he was ready.

"I don't think we're ready to take him on yet...he's managed to obtain the Star Rod from Star Haven..." explained Lincoln.

"The Star Rod from Star Haven?" questioned a Toadette.

"Wait...if Bowser has the Star Rod, whose going to grant our wishes?" asked a Toad. He was hoping for a SUV.

"That's a problem..." nodded Lincoln.

"We can't have our wishes granted if the Star Spirits don't have the Star Rod!" bellowed a Toad.

"Yeah...I think we need to get it back..." noted the boy.

"Go see the Star Spirits! They'll know what to do!" advised a scholarly Toad.

"Good advice." nodded Lincoln. They would most likely know how to help them.

Suddenly, Mario remembered something. Shouldn't he go visit his brother Luigi?

Immediately, he went down a warp pipe.

"Where are you going?" asked Lincoln.

He decided to follow him.

Curious, he discovered that he was now at what appeared to be Mario's house. Apparently this was where Mario hanged out when he wasn't going across the Mushroom Kingdom collecting coins or hitting blocks with his head. Wait, wouldn't hitting blocks with his head hurt?

"Funny, didn't I see that house in the intro of the game? Well, it looks like there's nothing stopping me from paying a visit." noted the boy.

Sure enough, Luigi noticed his brother Mario.

He jumped in surprise.

"There you are! I heard that Bowser beat you up..." said Luigi.

Mario drooped his head sadly.

"How'd he manage to pull it off? You always seem to beat Bowser, Mario." remarked the plumber who typically dressed in green.

"He had access to the Star Rod..." explained Lincoln.

"Hey, whose your friend? Wait, you're saying that he had access to THE Star Rod? Well, that's a shame! I was hoping that the Star Spirits would let ME go on an adventure for a change." questioned Luigi. Maybe if Mario successfully managed to recover the Star Rod from Bowser, he would finally get his chance. Or maybe they would simply make another Mario game, like Super Mario Sunshine. Mario loved basking in the sun.

"You'll get to go on an adventure in due time...at a haunted mansion." answered the boy. Maybe he would play that game if he wasn't worried about being sucked in. On the other hand, he got the feeling that Lucy would LOVE playing that game. Where was Lucy anyway? He hadn't found her yet.

"A h-h-h-h-h-haunted mansion?" questioned Luigi. That seemed like the last place that he would go to. Lots of spooky ghosts that were out to give him nightmares.

"Yeah...it's haunted." nodded Lincoln. On the lighter side, there were a LOT of valuables inside the mansion. Lincoln wondered how he would spend all that money. Professor E. Gadd wasn't interested since he already had the technology to make himself live a wonderful life.

"Mamamia..." murmured the green plumber.

Mario explained who his friend was.

"Pleased to meet you, Lincoln." said Luigi.

Mario also introduced Goombario to Luigi as well. He wasn't sure if Goombario was a fan of Luigi like he was of him though. Goombario may have a sister, but he didn't have a brother.

"You didn't tell me that you had a brother..." questioned Goombario.

"You don't know who I am? Awww..." complained Luigi. He was hoping that he would get to be popular like his brother. Of course, he didn't leave his house too much, unlike his brother Mario.

Suddenly, Lily approached Luigi.

"You brought a baby with you on your adventure? Well, I heard that even Baby Mario is going on adventures nowadays..." remarked Luigi.

"I figured I would leave her at Goomba Village at first since I knew that she was safe...but she insisted on coming along with me." answered Lincoln.

Lily pulled on Luigi's mustache.

"Ow!" exclaimed Luigi.

Mario waved goodbye to Luigi. Once again, it looked like like he was going on an adventure while Luigi looked at the house.

"It was nice seeing you Luigi...but we need to get to Shooting Star Summit." explained Lincoln.

"Bye!" exclaimed Luigi.

Immediately, Mario and Lincoln went down the warp pipe and headed back to Toad Town.

They then began to head to Shooting Star Summit.

As they did so, they noticed that it was suddenly turning night. It was quite unusual.

"Why is is turning night so fast?" questioned Lincoln. He could have sworn that it was daytime just a few minutes ago. Of course, Toad Town always seemed bright and cheery.

Mario shrugged.

"Maybe it's always night here..." noted Goombario.

Immediately, they began climbing down the summit. Fortunately, it actually wasn't a long climb, even if they were technically heading to the summit.

Eventually, they reached the top of the mountain.

"So, what do we do now?" questioned Lincoln.

At the top of the mountain was the Seven Star Spirits...or rather projections of them. They were still locked up.

"I'm glad that you managed to make it. As you may know, Bowser and his minions have kidnapped us...they've sent us all across the Mushroom Kingdom. He must not want to get back together again. There are a lot of things that we can do with our combined power, especially when we still have our sacred Star Rod." said Eldstar.

"You probably know this already, but we're in charge of granting wishes throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. It was only a matter of time before Bowser decided to make wishes involving causing Mario personal harm (such as making him get run over by a team of Charging Chucks) or marrying Princess Peach. We decided to place him on our "no wish granting" list." continued Mamar.

"Unfortunately, Bowser realized that we weren't granting his wishes. He proceeded to take action and head towards Shooting Star Summit along with his troops. He swooped in and snagged the Star Rod. Basically, decided that if we weren't going to grant his wishes, he would grant them himself instead. " explained Skolar.

"Without the Star Rod, there's no way that we'll be able to grant wishes throughout the Mushroom Kingdom, no matter how hard we try. That's why we need you to get it back. Besides, you probably don't want Bowser to have that kind of power. He is YOUR nemesis, after all." warned Muskular. Maybe he was lucky that he didn't have a nemesis.

"Once you've managed to rescue us all, we'll be able to take you to Bowser's Castle so that you can battle Bowser in a final showdown for the Star Rod But as it is, he's too powerful for you to fight right now. If you try fighting him, he'll simply turn invincible again and send you right back outside the window. And I doubt you want that to happen to you again." informed Misstar.

"Be careful Mario, Bowser has each of us guarded by his strongest minions. If you wish to get all of us back, you're going to have to defeat each and every single one of them. It's a big task, I know...but, you're Super Mario, right? You can do anything! Just look at how many adventures you have had in the past!" shouted Klevar.

"As for you, Lincoln...if you manage to rescue us and reobtain the Star Rod, we'll be nice and send you back home. It seems like a good deal since you're going through all this trouble for us. Consider it to be a token of our appreciation." remarked Kalmar.

Suddenly, the seven Star Spirit avatars began to disappear. It looked like they weren't going to be talking with them for much longer.

"Oh dear...it seems that we've used up our power. Well, you already know what to do. Go out there and save us so that you can save Princess Peach and the Mushroom Kingdom!" exclaimed Eldstar.

Immediately, the seven Star Spirit avatars disappeared.

"I guess it's up to us now." noted Lincoln. At least now he had a way to get back home, even if it would likely take him throughout the Mushroom Kingdom before he had an opportunity to do so.

Mario nodded. It looked like he was going on another adventure.

Of course, he lived the adventuring lifestyle. He went on adventures even before Bowser started kidnapping Princess Peach.

Immediately, he and Lincoln decided to head back to Toad Town. Perhaps someone might know where the first Star Spirit was.

On the way there, someone crashed into Mario.

"You alright, Mario?" questioned Lincoln.

Mario nodded. Fortunately, whatever had crashed into him was rather light. But just what had crashed into him? Was it a small asteroid?

He wasn't far off.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there!" exclaimed Twink. Apparently he was too excited.

Mario scratched his head. He looked a bit like the Star Spirits...but he was a lot smaller.

"Who are you?" asked Goombario.

"I'm Twink! Princess Peach asked me to send you these...as well as a boy named Clyde, I believe." stated the Star Kid.

Apparently, he was named after a popular nursery rhyme.

Immediately, Twink pulled out two Lucky Star Pendants.

"A boy named Clyde?" questioned Lincoln. Something told him that his friend was out there somewhere in the Mushroom Kingdom as well.

"Yeah...Bowser Jr decided to make him his slave..." explained Twink.

"Poor Clyde..." said Lincoln. Apparently, he was also being held prisoner in Peach's Castle along with the princess herself.

Immediately, Mario and Lincoln put them on. Somehow, they felt stronger.

"So...what do these do?" asked Lincoln. Surely there was a reason that Clyde and Princess Peach wanted them to receive this other than fashion accessories. Of course, Princess Peach was all about fashion.

"You can use them to boost your attacks...so long as you press the right button at the right time..." explained Twink.

Lincoln didn't know what that meant, but he decided that maybe they would be useful.

Suddenly, they heard an evil laugh.

"What the-" exclaimed Goombario.

"There you are! Bowser and his minions were looking for you! Kamek and Kammy promised me 1000 coins if I took you two down!" shouted the Magikoopa.

"I guess they figured that we would be coming here sooner or later..." suggested the Goomba with a blue hat.

"Get ready to enter a jail cell, Mario and Lincoln!" exclaimed the magical Koopa.

"I guess he knows my name..." noted Lincoln.

Immediately, the Magikoopa attacked, tossing a magical blast at them. For some strange reason it reminded him of geometry class at his school.

Lincoln decided to grab his broomstick and hit him with it in retaliation.

"Ouch! Feisty one, are you? Let's see how feisty you are when you're only six inches tall!" exclaimed the Magikoopa.

Immediatrly, he used his wand to shrink Lincoln, who was now way smaller than before. He was about the same size as Twink.

"I'm tiny!" exclaimed Lincoln in a very squeaky voice.

"Lincoln?" questioned Lily. It looked like Lincoln wasn't her big brother anymore.

"Don't eat me, Lily!" bellowed the unfortunate boy. This reminded him of the daydream that he had where Lily grew huge from being exposed to Lisa's chemicals.

"Huh?" asked the baby. Why would she do that?

Lincoln sighed in relief. It looked like his nightmares weren't going to become real after all.

"Be careful! Magikoopa know all sorts of nasty spells! Fortunately you can typically tell what type of magic they use by their color..."

Unhappy that her older brother had been shrunk, Lily hit the Magikoopa with her rattle.

"Ouch! You little brat! Why don't you get some too?" questioned the mage.

Immediately, he cast the spell on Lily.

However, much to his surprise, nothing happened.

"Huh?" questioned the baby.

"Why isn't this working?" asked the Magikoopa.

Lincoln returned to his normal size a few seconds later. Fortunately, it appeared that the spell was only temporary, though it did make him feel weakened during the duration of the shrinkage.

"Maybe it doesn't work because Lily's already small?" questioned Lincoln.

"Darn it!" bellowed the bespectacled Koopa.

Goombario wrote down "Lily is immune to shrinking."

Since Lily was immune to the Magikoopa's shrinking spells, she decided to whack the Magikoopa with a rattle once again. This time, she seemed to whack harder. Perhaps the Shooting Star Pendants were starting to have their effect on Lily as well, even if she technically wasn't wearing them.

"Would you knock that out?" asked the Magikoopa.

"I'll knock you out!" bellowed Goombario.

Immediately, he started headbonking the Magikoopa. Like Mario and Lincoln, his strength seemed to have increased from the Lucky Star Pendants.

"Darn it! I will not lose!" exclaimed the Magikoopa. He was hoping to use the 1000 coins to go on retirement.

Waving his wand, he sent four blasts of magic at the four of them.

The first hit Lily, causing her to drop her rattle.

"Poo-poo!" exclaimed Lily. That blast made her soil her diaper.

Lincoln sighed.

The next blast hit Goombario, causing him to feel dizzy.

"Look at all the shooting stars...oh wait, that's right. I'm at Shooting Star Valley..." remarked Goombario.

The next blast hit Lincoln, who was knocked to the ground.

But the last blast Mario leapt over.

Immediately, he used a Power Jump on the Magikoopa.

"There goes my 1000 coins..." said the Magikoopa as he gave them Star Points.

"Is everyone alright?" asked Lincoln as he began changing Lily's diaper.

"Okey dokey!" exclaimed Lily.

"Yeah, I think so." nodded Goombario.

Mario gave Lincoln the thumbs up.

"I'm glad you four managed to defeat the Magikoopa...well, if you need me, I'll be at Princess Peach's Castle. I'll let you know if Princess Peach or Clyde manage to find anything that could be useful, like perhaps where the Star Spirits are being held." explained Twink. Perhaps he could join the Star Spirits one day...then again, the Star Spirits never seemed to be more than seven, or less.

"Well, I guess it's time for us to go look for some answers." suggested Lincoln.

Mario nodded. If they were lucky one of the Star Spirits was close to them. They should try rescuing that Star Spirit first.

Together, they headed back to Toad Town.

It was time for them to begin the hunt for the seven Star Spirits.

 _Now that Mario and Lincoln know their mission, it's time for them to set out throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. In Lincoln's case, he was probably going to do that anyway so that he could find his sisters, ironically._

 _But first, they're going to take a look around Toad Town. That wouldn't be a good idea since they can get items and badges there._


	7. Chapter 7: Hocus Pocus

_In this chapter, Mario and Lincoln are going to consult Merlon to see where to go next. However, they're going to encounter a roadblock...for some strange reason, some Toads are standing right in front of the entrance to Pleasant Path. Maybe Merlon can do something about that..._

 _Also, Larry is spying on them...he wants to get as much information as he can._

 **Chapter 7: Hocus Pocus**

After receiving information about their quest at Shooting Star Summit, Mario and Lincoln arrived back at Toad Town.

"How did it go?" asked a nearby Toad. Hopefully Mario didn't get hit by a shooting star or an asteroid.

Mario gave the thumbs up. He had gotten all the information that he and his friends needed...well, other than where all the Star Spirits were. He'd figure out by gathering information...and process of elimination, possibility.

"The Star Spirits want us to look for them...they're apparently scattered throughout the Mushroom Kingdom." said Lincoln. Bowser and his minions were doing their best to make sure that nobody would be able to send them back to Star Haven.

"Wait, if they're scattered throughout the Mushroom Kingdom, how are we supposed to find them?" asked Goombario.

"That presents a problem..." nodded the white-haired boy.

"Well, I suppose you could ask Merlon. He's rather informative..." suggested the nearby Toad. He was where he would go if he wanted information...like whether he should get a new Mushroom hat.

"Seems like a good idea." agreed the Goomba. Alternatively, Mario could simply ask HIM for information. Of course, he didn't have magical powers so he couldn't simply use sorcery. He was starting to feel jealous of Merlon.

"But before you go visit the mighty wizard Merlon, you might want to look around. There are several shops that you can use to get badges and items...among other things." informed another Toad.

Mario decided that would be a good idea. It wouldn't be smart to go look for the Star Spirits until they were ready to rescue them.

Curious, he noticed that there seemed to be a race track. Competing in the race was Wario, Waluigi, Baby Mario, Donkey Kong, and Baby Luigi. Currently, the Toads were placing bets on who would win the race. Many of the bets were on Baby Mario.

"Why are there babies racing on the race tracks?" asked Lincoln. It was quite unusual. How did they know how to drive?

"We designed the karts so that even babies could use them." answered the Toad in charge. His name was Speed E. Also, he was wearing shades.

As soon as she noticed the karts, Lily took an interest. If Baby Mario and Baby Luigi were racing, surely she could enter the race track too, right?

"Hee hee!" giggled Lily. This looked like fun. She decided to give it a shot.

Immediately, she climbed into one of the karts and put on a racing helmet. It currently wasn't in use, so it was all hers.

She proceeded to start the engine.

"Vroom vroom!" exclaimed Lily.

Lincoln spotted Lily inside one of the carts. Appropriately, it was fuschia.

"Lily, you sure about this?" asked Lincoln. He didn't want his baby sister to get hurt...Luna had almost given her a stage dive once. Did Lily look like she had superbaby strength to her?

"Uh-huh!" exclaimed the baby.

"On your marks, get set, go!" bellowed Speed E.

Immediately, the racers began to race across the race track. They darted by so fast that Lincoln couldn't look at them without getting dizzy.

"Ooh ooh ooh ooh!" bellowed Donkey Kong.

"Wait, is that a gorilla on the race track?" questioned Lincoln. Well, gorillas were similar to humans compared to other animals, although this gorilla seemed to be about as intelligent as Leni.

Eventually, the race was over...

...and standing in 1st place on the podium was Lily.

"Way to go, Lily!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"Yay!" cheered Lily. She won! And to think that she had never been in a race before...except for the Diaper Derby. She had been disqualified for walking.

Second place was Baby Mario, and third place was Baby Luigi.

"I'm-a number two!" exclaimed Baby Mario.

"I'm-a third!" shouted Baby Luigi. Once again, he had fallen behind his brother Baby Mario. Maybe one day...

Lincoln noted that Lily was probably going to do well on her driver's exam once she turned sixteen. Maybe she could even teach Leni.

"Anything else we should do?" suggested the boy. There certainly were a lot of things to do in this town. No wonder there were so many residents.

Of course, it also helped that Princess Peach's Castle was nearby...or at least it used to be. When would it come back down?

Mario pointed out that there was a pig farm nearby, even though Toad Town seemed more urban than rural.

"I suppose we could try that." nodded Lincoln.

Obviously, there were many pigs inside the farm. Nearby there was a toad who of course was dressed like a farmer. His name was Billy.

"You want a Lil' Oink? Just pay ten coins!" exclaimed Billy. Next to him was a sign saying "10 coins for a Lil' Oink!"

Mario handed the farmer ten coins. It seemed like a good deal. He just hoped that the pigs didn't eat his lasagna because he loved his Italian food so much.

Shortly afterward, a Lil' Oink entered the farm.

"Oink oink oink!" exclaimed the pig. Wait, where were the other pigs?

"Thank you, Mario!" bellowed the farmer. He sure hoped that Mario would spend more coins so that he could keep building up a farm. Or maybe he could just play Animal Crossing. That game was full of animals.

Mario gave the thumbs up.

They also noticed that there was a dojo nearby.

"You think Lynn would be interested?" questioned Lincoln.

Lily nodded.

"Alright then, we'll come back once we've managed to find Lynn." said the boy.

"Hee hee!" exclaimed Lily.

Mario decided to go grocery shopping along with Goombario.

He decided to buy some powerups. Fortunately, there were Toads that selled them, and were more than willing to do so for Mario.

"Good thinking, Mario...just try to remember not to spend too much coins, OK?" questioned Goombario.

Mario nodded. He wouldn't want to be out of pocket when his adventure was just beginning.

Meanwhile, Lincoln discovered a strange individual wearing a top hat. He didn't look like anyone else in Toad Town, so he probably wasn't a resident.

"Who are you?" asked Lincoln.

"I'm Chuck Quizmo...if you answer my questions correctly, you'll get prizes!" exclaimed Chuck Quizmo.

"Sounds good! Count us in!" agreed the young boy.

Suddenly, Lincoln and Lily found themselves transferred to what appeared to be a game show.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Lily.

"How did we get here so fast?" asked Lincoln. It was as if they had been whisked away across time and space. Well, maybe just space.

"That's game magic, my boy." stated Chuck Quizmo.

Lincoln wondered why Chuck Quizmo decided to break the fourth wall.

"So, what's the first question?" inquired the boy.

"Who is your youngest sister?" asked the worm.

"Shouldn't I know that? It's Lily!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"Heeheehee!" giggled Lily.

"Correct!" shouted the worm.

Immediately, he handed Lincoln 10 coins.

"Alright then. When Mario fell from Bowser's Castle, where did he end up?" asked Chuck Quizmo. He felt sorry for the poor plumber. Why did he lose to Bowser when he won so many times before? Was it a one-time fluke?

"Goomba Village!" answered Lincoln. Mario was lucky that the Goombas managed to find him...and they weren't affiliated with the Koopa Troop.

"Correct! Here is a Star Piece!" exclaimed the worm.

"Oooohhh!" said Lily. She found Star Pieces to be rather fascinating. Maybe they reminded her of Shooting Star Valley. Speaking of which, they were just there. What a coincidence.

"Now for the third question! Who is Lincoln's best friend in the world?" inquired the worm.

"It's Clyde! How could I forget that?" asked Lincoln. It'd be like forgetting about his sisters.

"Correct! Here's an HP Plus badge so we all know how much you care!" exclaimed Chuck Quizmo.

"Nice!" cheered the boy.

"Now for the fourth question...who is Mario's brother?" asked the worm.

Lily buzzed in this time.

"Huh?" asked Lincoln.

"Loo-igi!" exclaimed Lily.

"Correct! Here is your prize!" bellowed Chuck Quizmo.

Lincoln reached forward to grab it, but Chuck Quizmo handed it to Lily instead.

It was a pacifier.

Lily happily began to suck on it.

"So...whoever answers the question correctly gets the prize?" asked Lincoln.

"It makes sense..." nodded Chuck Quizmo.

"OK..." nodded the boy. It looked like he might be facing competition from his sisters, especially if he managed to find Lisa.

"Now for the final question...how many chapters does Paper Mario have?" asked Chuck Quizmo.

"Hmm..." questioned Lincoln. He hadn't been playing the game for long so he didn't know the answer.

Lily buzzed in.

"Eight! Eight!" exclaimed Lily.

"Correct! Here is a teddy bear! To be honest, I have so many prizes I don't know what to do with them all..." questioned Chuck Quizmo.

Lily happily hugged her new teddy bear.

"I guess that's why you're being so generous with them..." remarked Lincoln. Strangely enough, Chuck Quizmo seemed to have a good idea which each contestant wanted...for example, while Lincoln wanted things such as badges or coins, Lily wanted things that were related to babies. Maybe Lily should be more practical...though Lincoln supposed he should keep Lily happy during the trip as well.

"Well, I think you've answered enough questions for today. I hope to see you again!" exclaimed Chuck Quizmo.

A few seconds later, Lily and Lincoln found themselves back in Toad Town, and Chuck Quizmo disappeared.

"Well, that was rather strange...but at least we got some prizes...they might be useful in our adventure." remarked Lincoln.

"Uh-huh!" exclaimed Lily.

"Let's go visit Merlon, shall we?" questioned the boy.

Lily nodded.

"By the way, how did you know how many chapters there were in Paper Mario?" questioned Lincoln.

Lily held up seven of her fingers.

"Oh that's right, there are seven Star Spirits...and after that Mario takes on Bowser and saves Princess Peach..." noted Lincoln. Now that he thought of it...weren't there eight worlds in Super Mario Bros 3?

As it turned out, Mario and Goombario were planning to do the same thing.

"Can I help you?" asked Merlon.

"We're trying to find out where one of the Star Spirits is...Bowser kidnapped them all and now they're spread throughout the Mushroom Kingdom!" exclaimed Goombario.

"That's quite unfortunate...I'll use my magical powers to help you." said the man.

Immediately, he used his crystal ball to determine the whereabouts of the first Star Spirit.

A large fortress appeared.

"It appears that the first Star Spirit is being held in Koopa Bros. Fortress...it looks like you're going to have to beat the Koopa Bros. in order to obtain the Star Spirit...I wish you good luck with that..." said Merlon.

"How do we get there?" questioned Lincoln.

"It should be rather simple...just go east from Toad Town and you'll be able to find it." answered the mage.

Suddenly, the image in the crystal ball changed.

Now, it was a village...a village full of Koopas.

"This reminds me of Goomba Village..." noted Lincoln. Only instead of Goombas, there are Koopa Troopas.

"I know." nodded Goombario. Of course, Koopa Village did seem larger than Goomba Village was.

"Wait, hold on...before you head to Koopa Bros. Fortress, you should head to Koopa Village..." advised Merlon.

"How come?" asked the Goomba with a blue cap.

"You'll find a Koopa with a blue shell there...as well as a girl who wears glasses..." explained the wizard.

"A girl who wears glasses? Wait a minute..." questioned Lincoln. He was starting to wonder if he knew that girl somewhere.

"They should be able to help you get inside the fortress...help them and they shall help you..." said Merlon.

"Sounds good." nodded Lincoln.

"Let me know if you need anything." spoke the wizard. Of course, he wasn't the type of person to go out on an adventure...but perhaps he could be useful to Mario and Lincoln some other way.

Lincoln and Mario nodded.

However, as they left Merlon's house, they didn't realize they were being spied upon. But it wasn't Kammy this time.

"So...they're going to try to get help from a blue shelled Koopa and a girl with glasses, are they? I better do something about that..." stated Larry Koopa.

Together they headed towards Pleasant Path...

...but they were stopped by four Toads who were oddly dressed in black. They didn't look too friendly, unlike the other Toads in Toad Town. Why were they so sinister?

"Hey, Mario! You don't want to go to Pleasant Path! It's dangerous out there..." stated one of the four Toads.

"If it's so dangerous, why is it called Pleasant Path?" asked Lincoln. Shouldn't it be called Unpleasant Path?

"I don't know but you shouldn't go there!" bellowed another Toad. "There are horrors that should never be seen by children!"

Lily sucked on her pacifier. This was getting scary.

"Yeah! It's crazy out there!" warned the third Toad.

"Plus you'll mess up Bowser's plans..." said the fourth Toad.

The other Toads looked at him.

"Er, I mean, please journey elsewhere?" asked the fourth Toad.

"Hmm..." thought Lincoln. Something didn't seem right about those Toads.

Suddenly, Lily began to cry.

"Why is she crying?" asked Goombario.

Once again, Lincoln began to feel suspicious. Could Lily...detect evil?

He decided to go talk to Merlon. He had a feeling that something was wrong.

"Didn't I just see you a few minutes ago?" asked Merlon.

"Well, I just encountered four Toads...they were acting really strange." said Lincoln.

"How so?" inquired the wizard.

"Well, they made Lily cry...and they wouldn't let us go to Pleasant Path...and they mentioned something about us messing up Bowser's plans..." explained the boy.

"That IS peculiar...I think I'll go straighten things out." nodded Merlon.

Immediately, he went to where the four Toads were standing.

"Can we help you?" asked one of the Toads.

"You're not really Toads, are you?" inquired the wizard.

"Well, of course we're Toads! Don't be silly!" exclaimed another Toad.

Somehow, Mario wasn't so sure if that was true.

"Well then, I hope you don't mind if I cast an anti-cloaking spell..." answered Merlon.

"Wait, what?!" exclaimed the first Toad.

Immediately, Merlon used his magic to unravel the four "Toads" disguise.

As it turned out, they were the Koopa Bros.

"We're busted! Get into the fortress immediately!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa.

"I'm on it!" bellowed Black Ninjakoopa.

"On the double!" shouted Yellow Ninjakoopa.

"You got it, boss!" nodded Green Ninjakoopa.

Immediately, the Koopa Brothers retreated.

"I guess there's nothing stopping us from going to Pleasant Path now..." stated Lincoln. Now they could REALLY begin their adventure.

"Is it really as unpleasant as they said?" asked Goombario. Since the Toads that they were talking to earlier were actually the Koopa Bros, they were probably simply trying to scare them away.

"It's not. There are Koopa Troopas though so take care!" exclaimed Merlon.

"Thanks for everything!" shouted the white-haired boy.

Quickly, the four of them headed to Pleasant Path.

 _Well, it looks like Mario and Lincoln are going to need to go to Koopa Village before heading to Koopa Bros. Fortress...at least they'll get some new party members out of it, right?_


	8. Chapter 8: Get Fuzzy

_In this chapter, Mario and Lincoln are going to go to Koopa Village, but unfortunately, it appears that they're having trouble with Fuzzies. Can you guess whose responsible?_

 _It looks like Mario and Lincoln aren't going to get their new partners just yet._

 **Chapter 8: Get Fuzzy**

Contrary to what the Koopa Bros had said to them previously, it turned out Pleasant Path was exactly that, pleasant. Incidentally, it also had a rather easy name to remember, since both the first and the second word started with the letter P.

Unsurprisingly, Pleasant Path was a rather sunny place, without a cloud in the sky. Apparently, the forces of darkness hadn't paid it a visit, unlike Peach's unfortunate castle.

Now that Lincoln thought of it...didn't all his sisters's names start with the letter L with their last name all being Loud? It did make their names a bit hard to distinguish but he was able to figure it out. Apparently, Pleasant Path was just as alliterative as his sisters.

However, though Pleasant Path was much more pleasant than the Koopa Bros. had said, that wasn't to say that Pleasant Path wasn't all pleasant. It turned out there were Koopa Troopas, like Merlon had said. They wouldn't be quite as easy to deal with as the regular Goombas that they had encountered right outside Goomba Village, since they were naturally better equipped for fighting Mario.

But since they were still low-level soldiers for the Koopa Troop, maybe it wasn't such a big deal.

Nonetheless, it appeared that their shells were going to give the Koopas some defense. They wouldn't be able to strike them down using weak attacks.

As usual, Goombario had information that they could use to fight efficiently.

"Careful Lincoln, they can use their shells to protect themselves from attacks. However, there's nothing stopping you from flipping them over...that ought to deal with their defense." warned and advised Goombario.

At that very moment, they were spotted by the Koopa Troopas.

"Hey, it's Lincoln and Mario! Let's get 'em!" exclaimed one of the Koopas.

Lincoln decided to do just that, using his strength to tip over one of the Koopas with his finger.

"Aah! Help me up!" screamed the unfortunate Koopa.

Lily followed by hitting the Koopa with her rattle.

"Ow!" bellowed the fallen Koopa.

Goombario then headbonked the Koopa Troopa, causing him to release the Star Points.

"Fine, you win...but you still have my buddies to contend with!" exclaimed the defeated Koopa.

Sure enough, the Koopa Troopas were rapidly approaching the four with their shells. Typically, they attacked their opponents by spinning around in their shells and launching themselves at their enemy. Sometimes they would find a big Koopa so that they could use that particular Koopa's shell to bounce off of, such as their very own Koopa King, Bowser.

One of them hit Goombario, causing him to fall down.

"Ow!" exclaimed Goombario.

Fortunately, Lily spilled milk on the ground, causing the Koopa Troopas to spin around and eventually fall on their shells. Apparently, they couldn't spin through Lily's favorite beverage.

"Where's Lifecare when you need it?!" bellowed one of the unfortunate Koopa Troopas. Even Bowser Koopa has had this happen to him before...though of course he would never admit it to anyone else, not even his own son.

"Good job, Lily!" cheered Lincoln. He was always glad that he could count on Lily to back him up...though it was only a matter of time before he would have to change her diaper again.

"Woohoo!" exclaimed Lily.

Deciding to fly above so that he could serve as a lookout, Lincoln noticed the Koopa Bros. Fortress out in the distance.

However, he realized that it wouldn't be a good idea to go there just yet. It looked to be guarded by many different Koopa Troopas.

They also had Bullet Bill cannons, so Lincoln couldn't simply fly to the top of the fortress and battle the Koopa Bros. either. Besides, he didn't want to face them without his teammates. He'd be outnumbered four to one.

In addition to the Koopa Troopas, there seemed to be one with a blue mohawk. Immediately, Lincoln was able to recognize him.

"Wait, now the Koopalings have gotten involved?" questioned Lincoln. This game was getting more and more challenging than the original.

Suddenly, a Golden Goomba showed up. He was hiding inside some bushes. Apparently he thought that the coast was clear.

Goombario gasped in surprise. He never thought that he would find one of those here.

"What's the matter, Goombario?" asked Lincoln.

Mario noted that he didn't typically see a Goomba that was of that particular color very often...though he had seen Goombas that were blue and green before. He had even seen red Goombas a few times.

"That's a golden Goomba...if you take one down, you'll get a fair amount of Star Points...not as much as you would if you beat an Amazee Dayzee though..." remarked Goombario.

"That seems reasonable." nodded Lincoln. He doubted that he could take on an Amazee Dayzee when it could do a whopping 20 damage. That would KO both him and Mario.

Immediately, the golden Goomba spotted them, and he attempted to run away.

However, Mario leapt on top of him in the nick of time. Having fast reflexes could come in handy.

The Goomba got squished, and Mario got his share of Star Points.

He happily leapt in the air.

"Way to go, Mario!" exclaimed Lincoln. No wonder he was one of the most popoular video game characters of all time. Thank goodness he was able to save them all from the video game crash. He didn't know what he would without video games.

However, it seemed doubtful that they would encounter another Golden Goomba anytime soon. Maybe they would encounter a Golden Paragoomba or a Golden Spiked Goomba?

Apparently, they were just going to have to resume their journey. They couldn't spend all day looking for treasure.

Fortunately, it appeared that Koopa Village wasn't far from them.

In fact, they could read a sign saying "This way to Koopa Village!"

They followed the sign, and they managed to make their way to the village.

However, as soon as they entered the village, they quickly realized that they had a problem.

The entire village was filled with Fuzzies!

"Whoa! What's going on?" questioned Lincoln.

"Help us! The Fuzzies are stealing our shells!" bellowed a Koopa Troopa.

Sure enough, one of the Fuzzies did just that.

"Aah! It's happened to me too!" screamed the unfortunate Koopa.

Lily frowned. Just the other day some Goombas had tried to take her lollipop too...of course, she had successfully defended herself.

Unfortunately, it appeared that everyone in Koopa Village was going without a shell, thanks to those mischevious Fuzzies that simply wouldn't leave them around. They simply had no respect for other people's property.

"It appears that they're having some trouble with kleptomaniacs..." remarked Goombario.

At that very moment, they spotted Lisa, who was bumping into things.

"Lisa, there you are!" exclaimed Lincoln. It looks like he had managed to find another one of his sisters...and she wasn't far from where Lily was either. It was rather convenient for him.

Lisa turned around.

"Lincoln, is that you?" questioned Lisa. She unfortunately couldn't see too well without her glasses. In fact, neither could Lincoln's friend, Clyde. His two fathers had to make sure that he didn't lose them.

"Lisa!" cheered Lily. She was glad to see her roommate again, even if she did like to experiment on her sometimes. Perhaps that was why she was smart for a baby...because she had such a smart roommate.

"There you are...wait, don't you typically wear glasses? Of course, so does Leni but I've never seen her wear those on her eyes..." noted the boy.

"Somebody stole them! How am I supposed to concoct experiments if I can't see what I'm doing?" asked Lisa.

"Well, sometimes I do get worried that you can't see what you're doing when you experiment on us sometimes..." answered Lincoln.

"Do you have any idea what happened to them?" questioned Goombario.

"Are you some sort of talking mushroom? My eyes are blurry..." inquired Lisa.

"Oh, about that...your machine swallowed us up into a video game...so one of our friends here is a Goomba. Yu've got to be more careful!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"Sorry, Lincoln. I'll try to figure a way out if you can simply find my glasses..." answered the genius.

"Thanks, Lisa...we already figured out a way to get us back home though...we're looking for the Seven Star Spirits..." explained Lincoln.

"Seven Star Spirits? Fascinating..." remarked Lisa.

"Mm-hmm...do you have any idea who stole them?" questioned the boy.

"I'm not sure...it looked like a fuzzball." explained the genius.

"A fuzzball? I think I know who did that..." said Lincoln.

"Bad Fuzzies!" exclaimed Lily.

Mario pulled out his hammer. it looked like he was going to have to track the Fuzzies down.

Suddenly, Lincoln remembered something.

"Aren't we supposed to look for a Koopa with a blue shell, too?" questioned Lincoln.

Mario nodded. Fortunately, his house was nearby.

However, as soon as they entered, they realized that his shell had been stolen too.

"I can't believe that those mean Fuzzies stole my shell!" bellowed Kooper.

"Sorry to hear that." sympathized Goombario.

"Can you help me get it back?" questioned the shelless Koopa. His shell was quite precious to him...especially considering that it was rather unique. All his friends had green shells, not blue ones.

Mario nodded. He wouldn't want anyone in Koopa Village to have to wander around in their underwear.

"Wait, why are the Fuzzies stealing people's shells, anyway?" inquired Lincoln.

 _Larry was standing right outside Koopa Village, along with several Fuzzies._

 _"Alright team...I want you to go out there and get all the Koopa Shells that you can find! But remember...if you find a Koopa with a blue shell, bring his shell directly to me!" exclaimed Larry Koopa._

 _"What should we do with the shells once we have them?" questioned one of the Fuzzies._

 _"Tell the Koopas that if they want their shells back, they have to enlist in the Koopa Troopa!" shouted the mohawked Koopa. He was so devious._

 _"Sounds good!" exclaimed a Fuzzy._

 _"Wait, didn't Merlon's prophecy detail a girl with glasses too?" inquired Larry Koopa. It wouldn't be a bad idea to deal with that girl as well._

 _At that very moment, a Fuzzy wearing glasses appeared._

 _"I just love my new glasses!" exclaimed the Fuzzy as he bounced away._

 _"Oh wait, I guess I already have that covered...let's see Mario try to_ get _to Koopa Bros. Fortress now! Hahahahahaha!" laughed Larry Koopa._

"Huh. Why do I get the feeling that the author retconned this moment in Paper Mario?" questioned Lincoln.

Mario shrugged. Well, it looks like they were going to have to save the Koopa Troopas in this village from prancing around in their underpants.

Curious, he noticed that there was a forest nearby.

Perhaps that was where the Fuzzies were hiding.

Immediately, he spotted a Fuzzy heading directly into the forest.

Perhaps he and his friends should follow them.

Quickly, Mario leapt into the air to get their destination.

"Huh? You saw a Fuzzy heading into the forest? We should follow them..." noted Goombario.

"Yeah...they might take us to where they've stored their stash..." remarked Lincoln.

"Here we go!" exclaimed Lily.

Immediately, they followed the Fuzzy out of the village. Fortunately, he didn't notice that there were people following him.

They eventually found themselves in a forest.

They decided to look around for the Fuzzies.

As it turned out, the Fuzzies were hiding in the trees.

"What's this? Hmm...you're not Koopa Troopas...what are you doing here?" questioned a nearby Fuzzy. He was wearing Lisa's glasses.

"You've been pilfering Koopa Troopa shells...give them back! And while you're at it, give me back my sister's glasses! She's as blind as a bat without them!" exclaimed Lincoln.

At that very moment, a nearby Swooper flew away from a tree.

"You want them back? Well then, how about we play a game?" questioned the Fuzzy.

"What kind of game?" questioned the boy.

Immediately, the Fuzzies began to shuffle around.

"Try to guess which one of us has the blue shell!" exclaimed the bespectacled Fuzzy.

Lily hit a nearby tree.

"Darn it! You got me! Let's try this again, shall we?" asked the Fuzzy with glasses.

The Fuzzies moved around again. Lily was starting to get dizzy.

Goombario was observant and hit the correct tree.

"Dang it! You got me again! Now it's time for me to move as fast as I can..." noted the Fuzzy that robbed Lisa.

Immediately, the Fuzzies moved as fast as they could, making it difficult to keep an eye on them.

However, this an unintended side effect.

Lily walked up to a nearby tree...and threw up on it.

"Yuck! That's disgusting!" bellowed the Fuzzy with glasses.

Lily, Mario, Goombario, and Lincoln looked at him.

"Darn it! I exposed myself! Fine, you win. You can have the blue shell...and you can have the glasses. Try not to break the latter...they're actually quite valuable." said the Fuzzy thief.

Mario and Lincoln jumped in the air. They had gotten what they wanted.

"Also, you can have back the Koopa Shells..." stated the Fuzzy bandit.

Lily and Goombario picked up the bag full of Koopa Shells. The citizens of Koopa Village would be happy to have them back.

"I guess we should head back to Koopa Village now..." suggested Lincoln.

Mario nodded.

However, as they were heading back to the village, Kooper suddenly approached them.

"Kooper, is that you?" questioned Goombario.

"I decided that if I don't stand up to the Fuzzies, I'll be allowing them to do whatever they want...even if that means stealing from my friends...I figured I should go out and get my shell back myself..." explained Kooper.

"Funny you should mention that...we just got your shell back." answered Lincoln.

"You did? Thank you so much!" exclaimed the Koopa Troopa.

Immediately, he put his shell back on.

Meanwhile, the Fuzzies were upset that they lost what they had stolen from Koopa Village. That had been a waste of time.

At that very moment, Larry Koopa showed up.

"Where is the loot I told you to plunder from Koopa Village?" questioned Larry.

"Mario and his friends came and took it back from us..." explained the Fuzzy.

"What? Don't just stand there and let Mario be the hero! Why don't you simply fight him and teach him a lesson about messing with the Koopa Troopa?" suggested the youngest of the Koopalings.

"You've got it, boss!" exclaimed the Fuzzies.

At that very moment, Mario, Kooper, Goombario, Lincoln and Lily heard a loud noise.

"What was that?" questioned Goombario.

"It's the Fuzzies! They're after us!" exclaimed Lincoln.

Mario shook his hands back and forth.

"Uh-oh!" shouted Lily.

"Hey Mario! We're going to beat you up and take back the stuff you took from us!" bellowed the Fuzzy that was wearing glasses eariler.

"I guess we're just going to have to fight them..." noted Lincoln.

"Alright then, I'll help!" exclaimed Kooper.

Immediately, he put himself into his shell and launched them at the Fuzzies.

They were scattered all over the forest floor.

If the Fuzzies had known that the Koopas would be efficient at fighting them, perhaps they would have thought up a better plan before they went to pillage their precious village.

One of the Fuzzies went up to Lily and began sucking HP from her cheek.

"Get off!" bellowed Lily.

However, she hit the Fuzzy with her rattle, causing him to let go.

"Is that all you got?" questioned Lincoln.

At that very moment, more Fuzzies appeared.

"Huh. I guess you've got more than that..." noted the boy.

"Give it up! We have you surrounded! Just give us back what you took from us and you'll be safe!" exclaimed the Fuzzy.

"I don't know, we went through a lot of hard work to get them..." countered the Goomba.

At that very moment, Lisa showed up. Apparently she had stumbled her way out of the village on account of her current lack of sight.

She was currently carrying a vial full of liquid...a liquid that looked rather volatile.

"Hey, I managed to make a formula out of the Mushrooms and Fire Flowers that I found in the village...wait, since when were flowers so fiery?" questioned Lisa.

At that very moment, the vial slipped out of Lisa's hands.

Lily gasped. Whenever Lisa dropped one of the chemicals from her laboratory, it never ended well. She knew from experience since she was Lisa's roommate.

Lincoln quickly realized that they were in trouble as well.

"Everyone, we've got to run for cover!" bellowed Lincoln.

Mario, Lily, and Goombario nodded, and they quickly hid behind the trees.

Lisa hid behind a tree as well.

"This is some interesting soil..." noted Lisa. Of course, she couldn't see it too well without her glasses.

"Huh? Why is everyone hiding?" questioned the leader of the Fuzzies.

Suddenly, the formula exploded, sending the various Fuzzies flying.

"Well, it looks like we took care of all the Fuzzies..." noted Lincoln.

"Boom boom!" exclaimed Lily. That was one big explosion.

Suddenly, Lincoln noticed Lisa.

"Hey, Lisa! We've got a present for you!" bellowed Lincoln.

Immediately, Lincoln put Lisa's glasses back on her face.

"Thanks, Lincoln. Now I can see..wait, why is there a mushroom walking around? And why is there a turtle walking around wearing boots?" questioned Lisa.

"You're in a video game that you sucked us into..." answered Lincoln.

"Ah, that makes sense..." nodded the girl.

"Can you help us out?" questioned the boy.

"I'm the one who got you into this...so I figure I should make it up to you by helping you out of it..." answered Lisa.

"Thanks, Lisa." smiled Lincoln.

"Can I come too? I figure I owe you after you gave me that blue shell.." asked Kooper.

Mario nodded. He was part of the prophecy that Merlon had told them about, anyway.

"Thanks!" exclaimed the blue Koopa. Apparently, Goombario wasn't the only one looking for adventure.

Together, they made their way back to Koopa Village.

 _And Lisa and Kooper have both joined the party! They should be able to get inside Koopa Bros. Fortress now...will they be able to retrieve the first Star Spirit? As I mentioned earlier, the fortress is guarded...and not just by the Koopa Bros._


	9. Chapter 9: Koopa Krashing

_In this chapter, our heroes are going to pay the Koopa Bros Fortress a visit...as you know, the first Star Spirit is being held there. However, it's also being guarded by Koopa Troopas._

 **Chapter 9: Koopa Krash**

Unsurprisingly, the citizens of Koopa Village were all very happy to get their shells back once Lincoln and his friends returned to the village. Now they wouldn't have to enlist in the Koopa Troopa. They weren't even fighters!

Well, Kolorado was an explorer so he could probably handle danger, but that was about it.

"Hip hip hooray!" exclaimed an exciting Koopa.

"We appreciate your help..." said one of the Koopas.

At that very moment, Koopa Koot left his house.

"What's all the racket outside? I would appreciate some peace and quiet..." noted Koopa Koot. Sometimes the Koopas in the village were restless, especially today.

Fortunately, it appeared that the Fuzzies didn't want his shell due to how old it was. Either that, or perhaps even they knew to respect their elders. Kamek and Kammy were some of Bowser's closest associates after all.

"Mario and his friends got us our shells back!" exclaimed the Koopas.

Immediately, the Koopas leapt into the air. Thank goodness Mario and Lincoln were around. Otherwise they would be in trouble.

"Oh. Well, good job then. I appreciate your help...so where are you heading now?" questioned the Koopa.

"We're heading to the Koopa Bros. Fortress..." explained Lincoln.

"The Koopa Bros? I heard of those kids...they used to be four ordinary Koopas that were looking for adventure..." informed the mayor. In other words, they were somewhat like Goombario or Kolorado.

"Oh really?" questioned Lincoln.

"Unfortunately Kammy Koopa took advantage of that and managed to persuade the Koopa Bros to join the Koopa Troop..." explained Koopa Koot.

"That's too bad..." noted Kooper. Well, they still had to fight them if they wanted to rescue the first Star Spirit.

"Take care now!" exclaimed the mayor.

As they made their way out of the village, they spotted a familiar face.

"It's you again!" shouted Lincoln.

As it turned out, it was Chuck Quizmo.

"Huh. I wonder what questions he's going to ask us this time." answered the boy.

They were about to find out.

"Wait, who is this guy?" asked Kooper.

"He's Chuck Quizmo...he's been asking people questions for years...if you answer them correctly...well, you'll earn a prize." explained Goombario.

"Sounds good! I guess I have nothing to lose!" exclaimed the Koopa.

"Yes, but you'll probably have a hard time finding him." noted the Goomba. He always seems to appear and disappear out of nowhere.

"First question...who is the oldest out of Lincoln's sisters?" questioned Chuck Quizmo.

Lisa buzzed in. Lincoln was not surprised.

"It's Lori." said Lisa.

"Correct." stated Chuck Quizmo. Judging from the glasses that Lisa was wearing, she was the smart one in her family. Of course, Clyde wore glasses as well and he had average intelligence.

Lisa received a calculator.

"This should help with my studies." noted Lisa.

Speaking of Lori, Lincoln wondered where she was. His sisters seemed to be in locations that matched their personalities.

"Now for the next question. Who is Kooper a big fan of?" asked the worm.

Kooper buzzed in.

"It's Kolorado!" exclaimed Kooper.

"Whose Kolorado?" questioned Lincoln.

"He's the greatest Koopa explorer in the history of ever! At least, that's my opinion." stated the Koopa.

"I see..." nodded Lincoln.

Goombario wondered if they were going to meet him during his adventures.

"Since you answered the question correctly, you get a Kolorado plushie. And yes, he has his own merchandise now. He thinks a lot of things belong in a museum...but he's willing to give out plushies of himself." explained Chuck Quizmo.

"You rock, Chuck Quizmo!" cheered Kooper.

"Now for the third question...how many residents does Goomba Village have, including Goombario?" asked the worm.

Naturally, Goombario knew the answer to that one. It was his hometown.

"Seven." answered Goombario.

"Wait, does that include Lily?" inquired Lincoln. That was where he found Lily, inside the Toad House in Goomba Village.

"Yes, it does. Sorry for any confusion." nodded Chuck Quizmo.

"Then make that eight!" exclaimed Goombario.

"Correct. You get a Mario plushie." stated the worm.

Goombario cheered. Much like Kooper was a hardcore fan of Kolorado, Goombario was a hardcore fan of Mario. Both of them had been fans of them almost as soon as they were born.

"Now for another question. Who is Clyde's dad?" questioned Chuck Quizmo.

"Wait, doesn't Clyde have two of them?" inquired Lincoln.

"Oh, right. I guess I forgot about that. Most contestants of the show have only one dad...but I suppose Clyde is an exception." nodded the worm.

"Anyways, one of them is named Howard, right?" said Lincoln.

"That's right. Here is your badge." answered Chuck Quizmo.

Lincoln received an HP Up Badge.

"Alright then...the last question is...who is Mario's brother?" asked Quizmo.

Mario leapt up in the air.

"Yes, Mario?" asked the worm.

"Luigi!" exclaimed Mario.

Lincoln jumped in surprise. Mario could talk?

As a reward, Mario got lots of spaghetti.

"Yummy!" exclaimed Mario.

"Well then, I think it's for me to pack up. By the way, if you want to make your way inside Koopa Bros. Fortress, I suggest that you find a disguise." said the worm.

"Thanks." nodded Lincoln.

Immediately. Chuck Quizmo disappeared.

After that encounter, Lincoln, Mario, and their friends went to Koopa Bros. Fortress.

Since there was a switch just out of their reach, Mario decided to use Kooper.

"Here I go!" exclaimed Kooper.

As soon as they hit the switch, a bridge appeared.

However, there was another problem.

As they discovered, there was a big Koopa standing in front of the door. He was wearing glasses, so apparently he couldn't see too well.

His name was Kent C. Koopa.

"Should we fight?" asked Lincoln.

"I wouldn't recommend that, he looks pretty strong." answered Goombario.

"You make a good point." nodded the boy. Surely there had to be another way.

Lincoln decided to walk up to him.

"Yes, what do you want?" asked Kent C. Koopa.

"Can you let us in?" inquired Lincoln.

"I can't. I'm only allowed to let in members of the Koopa Troop. Unless you're a Koopa or a Goomba or some other sort of Bowser baddie, you're not getting in." answered the giant Koopa.

Lincoln sighed. Things were not going to be simple.

"What should we do?" asked Kooper.

"There's got to be a way in somehow." answered Goombario.

Suddenly, they noticed that there was a Koopa outside selling shells.

"Get your shells over here!" exclaimed the Koopa.

"Where did you get those?" asked Kooper.

"I sell these shells to Koopas who have lost theirs. Some Koopas prefer going fast instead of having these shells for protection." explained the Koopa salesman.

"That explains why Kamek and Kammy don't have shells." noted Lincoln.

Suddenly, Lisa had an idea.

"Do you have shells that match our size?" asked Lisa.

"Lisa, what are you doing?" asked the boy.

"Don't worry, I have an idea how to get in." answered the genius girl.

"Oh." nodded Lincoln. Perhaps Merlon's prophecy was going to come true.

"Here are your shells." said the Koopa salesman.

A few minutes later, Mario was wearing a red shell, Lincoln was wearing an orange shell, Lily was wearing a lavender shell, and Lisa was wearing a green shell.

They decided to visit Kent C. Koopa again.

"Huh? Are you members of the Koopa Troop? Go on ahead." said Kent C. Koopa.

Lincoln noted that Kent C. Koopa lived up to his name.

Immediately, they entered the fortress where they were spotted by Green Ninjakoopa.

He let out a gasp.

"Oh no! It's Mario and his buddy Lincoln! He must be here for the Star Spirit!" bellowed the astonished Ninjakoopa.

"Well, I guess we don't need these shells anymore." noted Lincoln.

Immediately, he put the shells in his bag.

Green Ninjakoopa whistled and a Spinia and two Koopa Troopas appeared.

"Get them!" exclaimed the Green Ninjakoopa.

Lincoln was a bit confused to see a Spinia, since they were in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door instead of Paper Mario.

And speaking of confusion...

The Spinia spun around Mario, making him feel confused.

When he attempted to attack, he simply fell on his face.

The Koopa Troopas laughed.

The Spinia attempted to do the same with Lisa.

However, nothing happened.

"What the-" exclaimed the Koopa Troopas.

"I guess Lisa can't be confused..." noted Lincoln. She comprehended a lot of things.

Lisa sighed in relief, though she wondered how she was going to fight back against the Koopa Troopas.

Suddenly, one of the Koopas began to float in the air.

"I'm flying! Wait, since when was I a Parakoopa?" questioned the Koopa Troopa. It took some time before a Koopa could get their sis.

Lisa wondered what was going on. Was this her doing?

She decided to try lifting the other Koopa as well.

"What happened to the gravity?" questioned the other Koopa.

"Hmm, it appears that thanks to my advanced mind...and the fact that I'm inside a video game, I've developed telekinesis. Interesting...maybe I can experiment with this." noted Lisa.

"Maybe you can try slamming the two Koopas into each other." suggested Goombario.

"Not a bad idea..." nodded the bespectacled girl.

Immediately, she did just that, knocking the two Koopas together.

They were both knocked down.

"Well, that went well." remarked Lisa.

Suddenly, the Spinia spun right towards her.

"Huh?" asked the girl.

Fortunately, Lily intervened and splashed the Spinia with milk.

Much like the Koopa Troopas earlier, this impeded the Spinia's spinning and it fell down.

At that very moment, Mario snapped out of confusion.

He then whacked the Spinia with a hammer, finishing the job.

Unfortunately, it appeared that they had lost the element of surprise, as Green Ninjakoopa had run away to alert the others.

It looked like they were going to have to get ready for a fight.

Meanwhile, on the top of the fortress, Red Ninjakoopa had already informed Larry Koopa the bad news.

"Mario and Lincoln broke into our fortress!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa.

"It appears that the Fuzzies weren't up to the task of keeping them out like I thought..." remarked Larry Koopa.

"He must be here for the first Star Spirit!" realized Red Ninjakoopa. Fortunately for Bowser, Mario was not aware of where the other Star Spirits were being held at the moment, though it was still bad news that he knew where one of them was regardless.

"Yes, which is why we have to make sure that Mario and Lincoln don't get their hands on it. Fortunately, it appears that Mario hasn't rescued any Star Spirits yet, so things are looking good for us." noted Larry. The more Star Spirits he obtained, the more power that they would grant him.

"We're still not taking any chances. I'm deploying the Bob-Ombs!" bellowed the leader of the Ninjakoopas.

"Try not to blow up the whole fortress!" warned Larry Koopa.

Speaking of Bob-Ombs, he had noticed that several of them were inside the dungeon. What was going on there? There were also two different girls who inexplicably resembled each other.

Below, Mario, Lincoln, and company discovered Yellow Ninjakoopa.

He noticed their presence as well, and he had brought some friends of his.

"Get them!" exclaimed Yellow Ninjakoopa.

Immediately, he sent out his Parakoopa minions. Goombario noted the similarities between them and Paragoombas.

"You know, I wonder what it would be like to have wings." remarked Kooper.

"Don't you already have a shell?" questioned Goombario. Kooper probably wouldn't have decent defense without it.

"True." nodded the Koopa with a blue shell. The incident with Fuzzies made it rather apparent that they couldn't take their shells for granted. Maybe that Koopa selling shells outside had the right idea.

Suddenly, one of the Parakoopas crashed into the other.

"Ow!" exclaimed the Parakoopa.

"Have you forgotten your training already?" questioned Yellow Ninjakoopa. He thought his loyal Koopa minions were more competent than that.

"I couldn't help it! It felt like someone was grabbing onto me!" exclaimed the Parakoopa.

Undoubtedly, the Parakoopas were falling victim to Lisa's telekinesis.

Kooper tried hitting the Parakoopas, but unfortunately they flew right over his shell.

"Aww..." complained Kooper. Now he REALLY wished that he had wings.

"I guess you better leave hitting flying enemies to me." suggested Goombario.

Fortunately for Lincoln, hitting flying enemies was not a problem at all, since he was capable of flying himself.

Immediately, he karate chopped the two Parakoopas from midair.

They lost their wings and ended up landing on their backs so that they couldn't get back up.

"Don't you hate it when that happens?" questioned Kooper.

Mario shrugged. He didn't have a shell.

Fortunately for Kooper, this gave him a good opportunity to strike.

Wasting no time, Kooper rammed into both Koopas with his shell.

As a reward, they got Star Points.

With both of his Parakoopas now unconscious on the floor, Yellow Ninjakoopa decided to change tactics.

"There goes my loyal minions, well, their sacrifice won't be in vain." noted the Koopa who wore a yellow bandana.

Immediately, he pulled out a key and tossed it on the other side of a jail cell.

"You'll never get it back now! Good luck unlocking the door without this!" exclaimed Yellow Ninjakoopa.

Nearby, there was a locked door.

However, just because Lisa couldn't reach the key didn't mean she couldn't grab it.

Immediately, she used her psychic powers to grab onto it.

It flew directly towards her hand.

"What the-how did you do it? Dang it! You must have telekinesis or something!" exclaimed the Koopa Troopa.

Quickly, he ran away.

"Looks like he's not going to stick around for a fight...at least not yet." noted Goombario.

Since Yellow Ninjakoopa had retreated, Lisa decided to unlock the door.

On the other side was Black Ninjakoopa and some Bob-Ombs.

"Take one step and you'll be sorry, Mario and Lincoln!" exclaimed Black Ninjakoopa.

"Careful! Bob-Ombs are explosive!" warned Goombario.

Immediately, the Bob-Ombs lit their fuses.

Lisa attempted to lift one of the Bob-Ombs...but it exploded and she lost her concentration.

"Darn it! I can't focus with all these explosions!" bellowed Lisa.

A Bob-Omb went up to Mario and exploded in his face, causing him to be covered with smoke.

Fortunately, he was alright, though admittedly the Bob-Ombs packed a punch.

"There's got to be something we can do about those fuses..." noted Lincoln. If the Bob-Ombs kept up those explosions, there was no way they were getting through.

And they couldn't simply use Lisa to use her telekinesis to knock the Bob-Ombs away, since they exploded loudly. Basically they had a problem.

Fortunately, Lily had a solution to that.

Immediatrly, she used her milk bottle to put out the Bob-Omb's fuses.

The Bob-Ombs gasped in shock. How were they going to explode now?

Black Ninjakoopa looked surprised as well.

Seizing their opportunity, Mario jumped on top of the Bob-Ombs.

They immediately retreated, giving up Star Points.

This time, Lisa leveled up.

As a reward for leveling, she could now use another one of her inventions for fighting.

It was an old Duck Hunt zapper gun.

It seemed appropriate since Duck Hunt had been packaged with Suoer Mario Brothers in the very distant past.

Immediately, she used it to shoot electricity at Black Ninjakoopa.

Black Ninjakoopa gasped and decided to retreat.

"I'm off to the top of the fortress!" exclaimed Black Ninjakoopa.

"You sure like electricity, don't you?" asked Goombario.

"As a matter of fact, I do." nodded Lisa.

Afterwards, they continued their way towards the roof. Apparently the Koopa Bros had stored the Star Spirit somewhere around there.

However, Red Ninjakoopa had come up with a way to keep Mario and Lincoln out.

"Ready for some barbecue, Mario and Lincoln?" asked Red Ninjakoopa.

Unfortunately, there were some Firebars up ahead. They all looked rather hot. At least they could make some delicious marshmallows.

"Careful Mario and Lincoln. I don't want any of us getting burned by those." noted Goombario.

Lily pulled out her milk bottle.

"Then again, maybe we don't have to." remarked Kooper.

Immediately, she used it to put out the Firebars.

Red Ninjakoopa's eyes widened in shock.

"Why aren't our defenses working? I'm going to the roof!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa.

Quickly, the leader of the Koopa Bros. retreated.

However, on the way there, he encountered Larry Koopa.

"What's the matter?" asked Larry Koopa.

"It's Mario and Lincoln! Mario's partners and Lincoln's sisters are wrecking our defenses!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa.

"Relax. I have a plan that will solve everything." explained the Koopaling.

Immediately, he used his wand to create a question block above an innocent-looking platform.

"How will that help?" asked Red Ninjakoopa.

"Just wait until Mario and Lincoln show up..." answered Larry.

At that very moment, Mario and Lincoln (along with Mario's partners and Lincoln's sisters) came in through the door.

Red Ninjakoopa and Larry Koopa quickly hid.

As soon as they noticed the question block, Mario hit it.

Much to his surprise, nothing came out.

At that very moment, the floor collapsed, sending Mario, his partners, Lincoln, and his sisters falling down.

"Aah!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"Wah!" cried Lily.

"I wish that I had wings more than ever!" bellowed Kooper.

"I wish I were a Paragoomba!" exclaimed Goombario.

Immediately, they landed inside a jail cell.

The four Ninjakoopas and Larry showed up to taunt them.

"Enjoy your stay in prison!" exclaimed Larry.

"You'll never get the Star Spirit now!" taunted Red Ninjakoopa.

"In your face!" sneered Green Ninjakoopa.

"Let's go read some comic books, shall we?" asked Yellow Ninjakoopa.

"Sounds good to me!" exclaimed Black Ninjakoopa.

The five Koopas left, laughing all the while.

"How are we going to get out of here?" asked Lincoln, grabbing the bars.

 _Well, this seemed like a good stopping point. I figured I would end it on a cliffhanger._

 _In the next chapter, Mario is going to get a new ally and Lincoln is going to find two more of his sisters. That makes four. After that, it's off to visit the Koopa Bros themselves!_


	10. Chapter 10: Jailbreak

In _this chapter, our heroes are going to try to break out of jail. Fortunately, it appears that there just might be a way out. It's a good thing really, considering that Lola and Lana are in the cell as well, since they look like Princess Peach and what her daughter would possibly look like considering that she's most likely going to marry Mario._

 _Once they break out of jail, all that's left is for them to reach the Koopa Bros. Of course, they'll have several defenses set in place so they'll need to stay on their toes._

 **Chapter 10: Jailbreak**

"I can't believe that we're stuck in prison..." said Goombario. Would he ever see his family again? Goombaria would like to hear about his adventures.

Curious, Lincoln decided to see if he could fly out since they fell into the prison from a pit. Surely gravity wouldn't stop him, right?

However, he hit his head on the ceiling.

"Ow!" exclaimed Lincoln, rubbing his noggin. That didn't turn out as well as he hoped. There was a reason his parents told him to wear a bicycle helmet whenever he used his bike.

It was just as well. If he tried lifting his siblings out of the cell, he might end up dropping them by accident. Besides, there were Parakoopas inside the castle. They would notice if he decided to fly everywhere.

Surely, there had to be a better way. The Star Spirit was close at this point. It had to be around the fortress somewhere, even if the Koopa Bros had decided to lock it away somewhere where it wouldn't be discovered.

Curious, he noticed that he and his friends and family weren't the only ones that were locked in the cell.

There were several Bob-Ombs inside as well. He found that to be odd since typically the Bob-Ombs were working for Bowser. Not all Bob-Ombs did work for Bowser though, he admitted to himself.

"So, what are you in here for?" asked Lincoln.

"The Koopa Bros were making us work overtime...and they weren't paying us for it. We got mad and decided to start a rebellion...but unfortunately they found out what they were planning and threw us in jail." answered a nearby pink Bob-Omb.

If that was the case, Lincoln didn't blame them. It sounded like they were planning to revolt against the Koopa Bros...once they figured out how to escape the cell.

"Your name is?" inquired Goombario.

"It's Bombette. After that unfortunate incident with the Koopa Bros. We've been stuck in this jail cell ever since. They also threw in two girls into the jail cell as well, though I don't believe that they had anything to do with the rebellion..." remarked Bombette. Who were they?

Apparently, it had to do with them resembling Princess Peach and Mario, the former of which was Bowser's captive and the lattter of which was his enemy. They did lock many Toads away (their biggest supporters) in Bowser's Castle, after all. Bowser didn't like them.

"Huh?" asked Lincoln.

"Lincoln? Is that you?" inquired a familiar voice.

Lincoln's eyes widened in surprise.

"We've been looking for you, brother! Or at least until we got stuck in this cell..." said another voice.

"Lola? Lana? Is that you? Thank goodness!" exclaimed Lincoln. He was so happy to have them back.

Immediately, the three of them embraced...though Lincoln felt a bit queasy since Lana was smelly.

As it turned out, it was none other than his twin sisters.

"I see that you already managed to find Lily and Lisa..." noted Lola.

However, he had yet to find his six remaining sisters. She hoped that he would hurry up already. How was she going to have a laugh without Luan? How was she going to sing a song without Luna? How would she get fashion advice without Leni?

"Speaking of Lily, can I change her diaper?" asked Lana. As usual, Lana was interested in gross things, and that of course included changing Lily's diaper. Maybe she could babysit Lily one day.

"I don't think she needs to go to the restroom right now..." remarked Lincoln. Her diaper smelled rather clean.

"I think she'll be ready for potty training pretty soon..." suggested Lisa.

"Woohoo!" cheered Lily. She was so proud of herself. Now she wouldn't need to wear diapers anymore. She could wear pull-ups.

"Awww..." complained Lana.

"If you want to you can still visit our Aunt Ruth...if we can get out of this video game, of course." answered the boy. The sooner they finished the game, the sooner they would get to go home and relax. At least until another one of Lisa's inventions inevitably went haywire, anyway. Lincoln had a nightmare about that.

Fortunately there were Save Blocks they could use in the event that they got a Game Over...but he doubted that would be pleasant so he decided to avoid it if he could. Having extra lives would be very useful, wouldn't it?

"How do we do that? We can't even get out of this cell!" exclaimed Lola. She was getting real tired of being caged up like an animal...though she wondered if Lana should cage up HER animals.

"Actually, according to my calculations, we might be able to escape the cell if we have something with enough force...there's a crack in the wall right over there..." suggested Lisa.

"I guess this cell gets worn down after a while..." answered Lincoln.

Suddenly, he remembered something.

"Wait, you're a Bob-Omb, right? You think you can produce an explosion big enough to destroy that wall?" questioned the boy. If so, she was their ticket out of there.

"Actually, now that I think of it, maybe I can. I just hadn't noticed that cracked wall until now." remarked Bombette. It would have been nice to have known that earlier, but at least now they could leave their cell and get revenge on the Koopa Brothers.

Immediately, Bombette blew open the wall, allowing them to escape.

"Finally! I'm not cut out for prison time!" exclaimed Lola. That would be a nightmare for her good looks.

"You do tend to lose your temper a lot though." remarked Lisa.

"Whatever! I want to be treated like a princess, not a prisoner!" shouted the feisty girl. That was what she deserved.

At that very moment, two Koopa Troopas came to investigate.

"What was that noise?" asked one of the Koopa Troopas.

They then noticed that there was a gaping hole in the wall.

"Oh snap! The prisoners have escaped!" exclaimed the aforementioned Koopa Troopa.

Immediately, he sounded the alarm.

"Dang it." said Lincoln. It seems that the Koopa Bros had set up some security measures in case there was a jail break like this.

Fortunately, it appeared that not many of Bowser's cronies had heard the alarm.

Shortly afterwards, two Rexes entered the room along with some other Bowser baddies such as Goombas.

"Send them back into their cell!" ordered the Koopa Troopa.

"We're going to have to fight out of this..." noted Goombario.

"I guess it's good that we have help then...though I'm not so sure how Lola and Lana are supposed to help us..." questioned Lincoln.

They were about to find out.

Immediately, two Goombas ran towards Lincoln.

"Get him!" exclaimed one of the Goombas.

However, they found themselves being run over by Lola's car. It looked like she had managed to bring that into the game with her somehow.

"Take this!" shouted Lola.

Unsurprisingly, Lola got Star Points.

"Ha! That was too easy!"

Shortly afterward, the Koopa Troopa walked towards Mario. He was going to rip that mustache off of his face.

However, when he did so, he found himself being whacked in the face with a wrench.

"Ow!" exclaimed the Koopa Troopa.

Lana then jumped on his head, causing him to retreat into his shell.

She then kicked the Koopa Troopa out of the dungeon.

"I'm going back to Koopa Village!" exclaimed the Koopa Troopa.

"It seems that Lana's abilities bear similarities to Mario's." noted Lisa.

However, instead of possessing a hammer, she possessed a wrench. It seemed more appropriate now that she thought of it.

Of course, Mario did use to be a carpenter before he became a plumber. Before he liked a career that involved going down pipes.

One of the Rexes charged towards Lana, but she jumped on it, causing it to shrink.

"Apparently, it becomes easier to jump on them the more you do it..." remarked Lincoln.

Perhaps it would be best if he used his flying abilities to his advantage and by extension give his teammates an advantage.

Immediately, he flew up above a Rex and stomped on his head.

"Ow!" exclaimed the Rex.

This had the result of squishing him, rendering him vulnerable.

Lily Loud seized her opportunity and whacked the Rex with her rattle.

She got Star Points.

"Hee Hee Hee Hee!" laughed Lily.

Mario jumped on the other Rex, and he got Star Points.

"Thanks for helping us out of that prison. It was lonely down there. Not to mention cold and wet." answered Bombette.

"Do you know where the Koopa Bros might have gone?" asked Lincoln. It would be a lot easier to find them if they knew where in the fortress they were hiding.

"Let me think...actually, yes. I heard that they were building something up on the roof. It looked like they were trying to create the perfect likeness of someone, but I'm not quite sure who. I do have an idea though." stated the pink Bob-Omb.

"You should come with us! I love pink!" exclaimed Lola.

"And you're always ready to explode." pointed out Lincoln.

"Since when do I explode?" asked Lola.

"You went ballistic after I tracked mud all over the carpet..." answered Lana. She just wanted to go for a jog...on a trail of mud.

"How else was I supposed to walk down the aisle?" inquired the girl.

"You think the Koopa Bros noticed our escape?" asked Kooper.

"We might be in trouble if we did...but if what Bombette said is true, they're likely on the roof." noted Lisa.

"I guess we'll have to be on guard then." answered Lincoln. There were Bullet Bill Blasters up there...though they would be easier to deal with now that they had Bombette and his two twin sisters. Having more party members was quite useful.

Together, they explored the fortress. Fortunately, it seemed though being locked in jail had been inconvenient for them, it was now working to their advantage. The Koopa Bros' minions were unaware that they had escaped.

"Who do you think built this place?" asked Kooper.

"I'm not sure, but if I had to guess, it was built by Bob-Ombs." answered Lisa.

"That would explain why they made us work so hard..." noted Bombette. She wanted a different job...ironically, one that didn't involve explosions.

Curious, Lincoln noticed that there were cracks in the wall.

Lincoln decided to have Bombette blow them up to see what was inside.

Inside was a key.

Lincoln used it to unlock a nearby door.

"Having a bomb sure is useful." noted Lincoln.

After opening the door, Lincoln discovered that there was a set of switches nearby.

Fortunately, Lincoln was able to get to them by using Kooper.

However, he had to do this several times so that he could get to the other side. At least it wasn't a tricky switch puzzle.

Up ahead was another obstacle.

As it turned out, there was a Mr. I up ahead.

"That eyeball is staring at us..." noted Kooper.

"It's creeping me out." remarked Goombario.

Mario remembered encountering these when he went inside a haunted mansion. Unfortunately, jumping and hammering them did not work.

As soon as Lincoln stepped forward, Mr. I fired a laser.

"Yikes! We're not getting through until we find a way past him!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"Surely there has to be a way to get past it..." noted Lisa.

"Did you say something? I'm admiring my good looks in the mirror." asked Lola.

Sure enough, she was doing just that. She was loving her adorable face.

"Lola, we need to f-wait! That's it!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"What's it?" asked Lola.

"Lola, when that eyeball fires its laser, try holding out your mirror!" shouted the boy.

Lola nodded.

Mr. I fired its laser...

...and Lola deflected it right back at it.

Mr. I burst into coins and Star Points.

"Looks like you got an eyeful!" exclaimed Lola.

"Sounds like something Luan would say." answered Lincoln. He was starting to miss her brand of comedy.

The next room was covered in a poisonous gas.

"We cannot breathe that horrible gas! We have to get rid of it!" exclaimed Lisa.

Nearby was a valve...but how would they turn it without breathing the gas?

At that very moment, Lana took a whiff of the gas.

"Huh. Doesn't seem so poisonous to me." answered the gross girl.

"Wait, that poisonous gas doesn't bother you?" asked Lincoln.

"Note to self: Lana cannot be poisoned." remarked Lisa.

"I guess these personality powers are coming into effect once again." noted the boy. Now the time he thought of it, even though Lana liked to play in the mud, she didn't get sick often.

Lana walked over to the valve and turned off the gas. Now they could breathe once again.

"Done!" exclaimed Lana.

"Good job! I'm glad that I can count on my twin sisters...just like I can count on my baby sister and my genius sister..." remarked Lincoln.

The next door led right outside.

"I guess this must be the roof." said Kooper.

Unsurprisingly, they could see Pleasant Path from up there, including Kooper's house. Kooper wondered what the citizens of Town were doing at this time.

However, the Koopa Bros were waiting for them up on the roof.

"How'd you escape from your cell? And how'd you make it all the way up here? I guess we're going to have to get the cannons..." said Red Ninjakoopa.

Mario wondered where Larry was. He didn't seem to be up on the roof anywhere.

"Attack!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa.

Immediately, the Bullet Bill cannons opened fire on Mario, Lincoln, and their friends and family.

"We need to destroy those cannons!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"If we get close enough, I might be able to blow them up." advised Bombette.

"I guess we should try that then." nodded Goombario.

Quickly, the team raced towards the cannons.

One of them hit Lily.

"Ow!" exclaimed Lily.

Another hit Lisa.

"My glasses! They're broken!" exclaimed Lisa. No reading books for her.

Lana fixed the glasses for Lisa.

"Thanks. I'm glad that we managed to find you." answered the brunette.

"No problem!" shouted the yucky girl.

Another hit Kooper...but his shell protected him from the Bullet Bill. Those shells were a gift.

"One of them is a Koopa Troopa?" asked Yellow Ninjakoopa.

"You traitor!" exclaimed Black Ninjakoopa angrily.

"But I wasn't part of the Koopa Troop..." said Kooper.

"Never mind." answered Green Ninjakoopa.

Another hit Mario.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.

Finally, they reached the cannons.

Bombette lit her fuse.

The Koopa Bros panicked.

"Everyone to our command center!" exclaimed Red Koopa.

The four Koopas retreated into the nearby room.

Shortly afterward, Bombette made the Bullet Bill Blasters explode.

"Way to go!" exclaimed Lincoln.

Bombette was disappointed that the explosion missed the Koopa Bros...but at this point they no longer had anywhere to run, did they?

"You ready for this?" asked Bombette.

Mario nodded.

Lily nodded.

Lisa nodded.

Lola and Lana nodded.

Kooper nodded.

Goombario...well, you already know it.

"Let's go then." answered Bombette.

Together, they opened up the door...

...and found themselves face to face with the Koopa King!

Bowser glared at them.

"Well well, Mario and Lincoln. What a lovely surprise. You should have stayed at your house playing Mario Kart!" exclaimed Bowser.

The party gasped in shock.

 _What a surprise, huh? Rest assured that's this won't be the final battle...they haven't even recovered the first Star Spirit yet._

 _In the next chapter, the Koopa Bros will fight the heroes...and so will Larry. But why is he hiding? And will our heroes capture the first Star Spirit and prove to Bowser they're not a walk in the park?_

 _See you._


	11. Chapter 11: Way Of The Ninja

_It's time for the first star spirit battle! And yes, this is a milestone for my fanfic. Of course, so was the prologue, even if no Star Spirits were actually earned in the prologue. Bowser was smart enough not to entrust the Goomba King with a Star Spirit since he wasn't strong enough to do so, though he was strong enough to keep Mario out of Toad Town apparently. Besides, he already made him king, what else could he want?_

 **Chapter 11: Way Of The Ninja**

"What? Bowser's here?" asked Lincoln. What exactly was he doing outside his castle? Of course, this wouldn't be the first time that he left his keep...which, ironically enough, was where he keeped the princess.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario. It didn't take him too long to have a rematch for the Koopa King. He didn't think that it would happen so soon. Hopefully he would at least do better than he did in the initial fight. They seemed evenly matched up until he pulled out the Star Rod.

"I thought you were in that castle up in the sky...it doesn't make any sense." stated Lisa. Why would he come down there if they didn't even have a single Star Spirit?

Lily went into a troubled fetal position. It looked like she was going to meet the Koopa King himself, and so soon too. He was scarier than she had imagined him to be, though she was willing to stand up to him for her brother's sake as well as her older sisters.

However, Goombario, attentive to details as always, noticed something odd. Didn't Bowser still have the power of the stars?

"Hold on a minute...if you're Bowser, why don't you have the Star Rod?" asked Goombario. That was what allowed Bowser to seal his victory over Mario the first time.

"I don't need the Star Rod to pummel you!" bellowed Bowser. Bowser was a rather arrogant type of guy, in addition to being an evil one, naturally.

"OK..." answered the Goomba. He did have a point. Even if Bowser had lost to Mario many times, that was not to say that Bowser was a weak opponent. Most of his minions admired his power though he typically ruled through respect instead of fear.

"Wait, if you're not at the castle, then whose guarding the princess?" asked Lincoln. Surely Bowser would keep a better eye on her on that. He had guards throughout Peach's Castle.

"Oh, I put her in the dungeon along with all those stupid Toads..." remarked Bowser.

"Don't you usually have the princess nearby at all times?" inquired Kooper.

"Not today?" asked the Koopa King.

"Hmm..." remarked Lisa. This was getting rather strange.

"Enough talk! I'm going to trounce you...like I've been wishing for for ages!" exclaimed Bowser.

"Uh-oh!" exclaimed Lily.

Immediately, Bowser clawed Mario.

"Oof!" bellowed Mario.

Fortunately, it didn't hurt much.

Bowser then followed by breathing fire on Lincoln.

However, instead of it doing a whopping amount of damage, it didn't hurt him much.

"Huh?" asked Lincoln. He was expecting that to be a lot more dangerous. During Bowser's battle with Mario in Peach's Castle, that packed enough firepower (literally) to take him down in one shot.

Bowser attempted to breathe fire again, but this time Lily squirted milk in his mouth when he attempted to do so.

Oddly, this caused some sparks to come out of Bowser. Did he somehow manage to absorb some of the Star Rod's power from the rod?

"Oh no...not t-I mean, curse you, Mario!" exclaimed Bowser. Mario made Bowser so angry.

Lincoln noted that pouring milk on Bowser was rather effective, especially when Lily aimed the milk at his mouth while he was spewing flames.

But...why the sparks?

In retaliation, Bowser grabbed the closest person to him, Lola.

Lola gasped.

"Gotcha!" exclaimed Bowser, a wide grin forming on his face.

"Put me down! I'm a princess! I deserve more respect than this!" shouted Lola.

Immediately, she threw a temper tantrum.

"This isn't the first time that he's grabbed a princess." remarked Lisa.

"I'm coming, sis!" exclaimed Lana.

Immediately, Lana came to her sister's rescue. She may be her polar opposite, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't come to her sister's aid if she needed it. After all, she did fill in for Lola in a beauty pageant...though that had technically been Lincoln's idea instead of hers. Somehow, she had managed to win by being herself. Apparently, the judges thought that her act was quite creative.

Bowser launched several fireballs at Lana, but Lana leapt right over them. She had taken a page out of Mario's book, it seemed...though despite the fact that Mario was a plumber, he was a lot cleaner than Lana was.

"Ah yes...Lana would probably be a good choice for this battle..." noted Lisa. Of course, so would Mario, but since he was made of paper in this game fire was dangerous to him.

She then whacked Bowser with a wrench, causing him to drop Lola.

"Stupid overgrown turtle...thanks, Lana." murmured Lola. Apparently, she could count on her family...though dressing up along with her siblings as each other felt rather weird.

"Alright! I got him! But...why did screws pop out?" asked Lana. She had no idea where they had come from.

"Um..." answered Bowser.

"I'm starting to suspect that this isn't the real Bowser..." said Goombario.

"Not the real Bowser? Don't be silly!" exclaimed the Koopa King. Everyone knew that he was the real deal...right?

"Bombette, try exploding on him!" shouted Lincoln.

Immediately, Bombette marched towards Bowser.

"Huh?" asked Bowser.

Bombette then exploded.

"Aargh!" exclaimed the Koopa King.

Bowser exploded, leaving behind mechanical parts everywhere.

Also, for some strange reason, there was a portrait of Princess Peach inside. Were the Koopa Bros fond of the princess?

"We did it?! Wait, Bowser is a robot?" asked Kooper. He thought that he was a Koopa much like he was. Of course, there was such a thing as Mechakoopas, though they were more like wind-up toys than proper Koopas.

"I don't think that this was the actual Bowser..." answered Lisa. It was more like the mecha that King Boo had used to combat Luigi. Speaking of Luigi, he was probably at home writing his diary. Maybe he would get to go on an adventure someday...that didn't involve catching ghosts.

At that very moment, the Koopa Bros showed up. They had been inside the Bowser robot the whole time. It seemed natural that since they were ninjas they would be playing tricks on them, such as the trap that they had built earlier.

"Darn it! You blew up our awesome robot!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa. He figured that they would be able to use the robot to scare Mario and his friends away, but apparently they were braver than that. Not only that, but it seemed that Goombario and Lisa had seen through their disguise.

"We worked really hard on that!" shouted Black Ninjakoopa. Not as hard as they had worked the Bob-Ombs though.

"Bowser was so proud..." answered Yellow Ninjakoopa. He had also been proud of their collaboration technique. It was surprising what they could do when they worked together as a team...which was like Mario and his friends now that he thought of it.

"Of course, if Larry hadn't helped us, it probably wouldn't have been convincing." stated Green Ninjakoopa. He was glad that Bowser had sent him.

Immediately, Green Ninjakoopa pulled out a picture of what the robot would have looked like in its early stages. It didn't look too much like the actual Bowser.

"This looks like the mecha that was used in the original Paper Mario..." noted Lincoln. The added difficulty had taken effect once again...and had also made their foes more intimidating this time as well.

At least they had managed to get past it regardless. It was rather impressive that they managed to make it breathe fire much like the actual Bowser. That actually wasn't in the Paper Mario game.

"Too bad that you managed to blow it up...but we can always build another robot. Let's handle this ourselves!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa.

"Wait, where's Larry?" asked Goombario.

"He went to go get his airship. He likes flying around it." stated Black Ninjakoopa. Maybe they should get an airship of their very own...on the other hand, they did like the fortress that they had discovered.

"Good point." nodded Kooper. He had dreams about being a Parakoopa before.

"Are you ready to try out the technique we've been working on?" asked Yellow Ninjakoopa. He had been waiting for the opportunity to use it...so why not now?

"You bet!" exclaimed Green Ninjakoopa.

Immediately, the Ninjakoopas stacked on top of each other and tucked into their shells.

They then started to spin around.

"I wonder if we could do that in my village if we were up for it." questioned Kooper. It would help them defend themselves against the Fuzzies.

Shortly afterwards, they shot themselves at Mario at an astonishing speed.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.

The attack sent him flying.

"You alright, Mario?" asked Lincoln.

Mario nodded. That attack DID knock the breath out of him though. It was actually stronger than being hit by a Bob-Omb.

"How are we going to knock them down?" inquired Kooper. It was only a matter of time before they would begin another assault.

"If we jump on them, they might lose their balance..." suggested Lisa.

"Maybe...but I think we should try using something more powerful..." contradicted Goombario.

"Allow me..." answered Bombette.

"Ready for another assault?" asked Red Ninjakoopa.

"You bet!" exclaimed Black Ninjakoopa.

At that very moment, Bombette exploded, sending the four Ninjakoopas flying.

"Aargh!" shouted the four of them.

All four of them landed on their shells, rending them vulnerable.

"I hate it when that happens." remarked Kooper.

"Tell me about it!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa. At least they were rather agile so they could get back up faster than other Koopas.

Since Kooper had an opportunity, he decided to slam into all four of them with his shell.

"Ow!" exclaimed the four Ninjakoopas in unison.

However, the Ninjakoopas managed to get up after the attack.

"I think maybe we should switch tactics." remarked Red Ninjakoopa. They were vulnerable to Bombette's explosions while they were stacked together like that.

Perhaps they should switch tactics and choose something that was, while less awesome, more practical.

Once again, the four of them spun in their shells...but this time, they didn't stack themselves together.

"Huh? This is new." remarked Kooper.

After spinning around in their shells, the four Ninjakoopas scattered themselves in different directions.

Yellow Ninjakoopa hit Lily.

"Owie!" exclaimed Lily. Good thing she had some bandages for her booboos.

Green Ninjakoopa hit Kooper.

"Ow!" exclaimed Kooper. He nearly fell over, but he managed to keep balance.

Black Ninjakoopa hit Goombario.

"Ouch!" shouted Goombario. At least he wasn't a big target.

Red Ninjakoopa hit Lincoln.

"Agh!" shouted Lincoln. He may have powers similar to Ace Savvy...but he probably wasn't as resilient as Superman.

"It seems that they've altered their tactics to counter Bombette's explosion power." noted Lisa.

"Now the added difficulty is making our opponents smarter too..." added Lincoln.

"That's unfortunate..." remarked Bombette. She was hoping that she could use her explosion power to send the Koopa Bros packing. But at least she managed to explode on them.

Immediately, the four Ninjakoopas prepared to use the team attack again.

However, Lola spilled hot tea on them before they could do so.

"Ouch! Hot hot hot hot!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa. At least a cup of Koopa Tea would be good right now.

They attempted to resume spinning in their shells, but the spilled tea causing them to spin around uncontrollably and hit each other instead.

"Oh man..." murmured Green Ninjakoopa.

Black Ninjakoopa pulled out a cannon.

"What are they up to now?" asked Lincoln. Were they loading more Bullet Bills?

But as it turned out, they weren't loading Bullet Bills...

...they were loading themselves.

"Bob-Ombs away!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa.

"This can't be good." said Goombario.

Immediately, the four Ninjakoopas landed on top of Lincoln, Mario, Bombette, and Kooper.

"Ow!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"Oof!" bellowed Mario.

"Grr..." murmured Bombette. Once again, the Koopa Bros were making her angry. At least her friends were safe now. They were probably heading to Koopa Village. The locals there were nice and wouldn't ask much from them.

"Agh! I fell down!" screamed Kooper, who was now on his back. It looked like he was temporarily out of the fight.

"That was fun!" exclaimed Green Ninjakoopa.

"Let's do it again!" agreed Yellow Ninjakoopa.

Once again, the four of them launched themselves from a cannon.

However, Lola and Lana had a trick up their sleeve that was similar to what Paper Mario did in Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam.

Immediately, they pulled out a trampoline.

When the four Ninjakoopas landed, they found themselves bouncing.

"What's going on?" asked Black Ninjakoopa.

"I'm not sure..." answered Red Ninjakoopa.

Eventually, they found themselves back inside the cannon.

"How'd we get back here?" inquired Green Ninjakoopa.

Lana then tipped the cannon so that instead of it being directed towards the party, it was directed towards a nearby wall instead.

All four Ninjakoopas crashed into the wall, leaving a crack in it.

"That was...clever..." remarked Yellow Ninjakoopa.

"I'm getting tired..." noted Green Ninjakoopa.

"I think we could use some help here..." said Red Ninjakoopa.

At that very moment, some Koopa Troopas came in.

"There you are! Help us out!" exclaimed Black Ninjakoopa. They couldn't beat Mario and Lincoln alone.

The Koopa Troopas nodded, and spun towards Mario and his friends.

However, at that very moment, Kooper got back up from his shell.

"That's better!" exclaimed Kooper.

He proceeded to slam into the Koopa Troopas with his shell, knocking them all over.

Mario leapt on the Koopas, allowing him to obtain Star Points.

Two Paragoombas flew in, but Lisa used her gun to shoot them down.

"No!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa.

"Hey, Red Ninjakoopa! Hey!" shouted Bombette.

Red Ninjakoopa turned around...

...just in time for Bombette to explode on the four Ninjakoopas.

All four Ninjakoopas were sent flying into the dungeon below.

"Aah!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa.

"Whoa!" shouted Black Ninjakoopa.

"How could this happen?" asked Yellow Ninjakoopa.

"How long are we going to keep falling?" inquired Green Ninjakoopa.

Immediately, the four Ninjakoopas realized that they were in trapped in prison...along with the remnants of their robot.

"How are we going to get out of here?" asked Red Ninjakoopa.

"I don't know! We never built a secret escape tunnel!" exclaimed Black Ninjakoopa.

Unfortunately, the head of the Bowser mocha that they had built had blocked the hole in the wall that Bombette had made earlier. They wouldn't be able to get out that way.

"What should we do now?" inquired Yellow Ninjakoopa.

"Help!" demanded Green Ninjakoopa.

"Serves the four right." said Bombette.

"You think that they'll get out of there?" inquired Goombario.

"Possibly...but at least now we should be able to get the first Star Spirit..." stated Lisa.

As soon as Lisa saw that, a card containing the first Star Spirit appeared. This one happened to be Eldstar.

"Yahoo!" exclaimed Mario.

"Looks like we got the first Star Spirit...but why do I get the feeling that we're forgetting something?" asked Lincoln.

At that very moment, Lincoln spotted something lurking in the shadows.

"What? Whose there?" asked the boy.

Shortly afterward, Larry grabbed onto the Star Spirit card.

"Trying to take the first Star Spirit, are you? I don't think so! I guess I'll just have to take this to a more secure location." remarked Larry.

Lincoln noted that this actually wasn't in the game. Apparently, the added difficulty was making it so that they would have to fight a Koopaling for each of the Star Spirits as well.

"Get back here!" demanded Lola.

Immediately, Larry fled onto his battleship.

"I guess we're going to have to follow him..." noted Lincoln.

Mario nodded.

Fortunately, there was an anchor that they could use to get onto the airship. Of course, Lincoln didn't need it since he was capable of flight.

However, that was the easy part.

Quickly, the party boarded the ship so that they could get back the first Star Spirit.

Would they be able to defeat the first Koopaling?

 _The Koopa Bros have been defeated...but what's this? It seems that there's another obstacle in their path. If they want Eldstar to return to Shooting Star Summit, they must defeat Larry Koopa as well._

 _Can they get past his airship and make it to the youngest of the Koopalings? Mind you, just because he's the youngest doesn't mean that he's a weak opponent...take a look at Lily for example. She has superpowers in Paper Mario just like Lincoln does._

 _I hope that you enjoyed this chapter though it's technically not the end of the first chapter of Paper Mario._


	12. Chapter 12: Respect Your Elders

_In this chapter, Mario and Lincoln are going to fight Larry for Eldstar. However, his airship is filled with defenses, including Boom Boom, a fearsome Koopa indeed. Will they win?_

 **Chapter 12: Respect Your Elders**

"So, this is Larry's airship?" questioned Goombario. If each of the Koopalings had their own airships, they likely didn't need their own pair of wings like the Parakoopas.

"It looks that way." nodded Lincoln. He even has had his face on the airship. Apparently he wanted everyone to know that the airship belonged to him, just like the rest of his siblings.

At that very moment, Larry Koopa showed up. He was driving his clown copter.

"So, you defeated the Koopa Bros, did you? That's rather impressive. But now you have to get past my airship! And then you'll have to fight me!" exclaimed Larry.

"Are you excited?" asked Kooper.

"Yes, I am! I'll be waiting for you in my room! Don't disappoint me!" exclaimed Larry.

Larry flew away to a warp pipe that wasn't too far from them. He then went down inside it.

"You think we can reach him?" inquired Bombette.

"Either way, we're going to have to get past his defenses..." said Lisa.

Curiously, there seemed to be a Goomba up again...but he wasn't an ordinary Goomba. He was huge!

"Look at the size of me!" exclaimed the Goomba in a deep voice.

"You remind me of King Goomba..." said Goombario. It felt a bit like they were fighting him all over again, though without the colorful Goombas.

"I'd like to be a king..." remarked the Giant Goomba.

However, though the Goomba was huge, he was likely still vulnerable to be jumped upon.

Suddenly, the giant Goomba noticed Lily and gasped.

"You're the one who defeated the Goomba King!" exclaimed the giant.

"Hee hee hee!" exclaimed Lily.

"I must avenge him!" bellowed the oversized Goomba. That was what their king would want him to do...like a loyal Goomba.

Immediately, he charged towards Lily.

However, Lily pulled out a rattle and hit him with it.

"Ow!" exclaimed the Giant Goomba.

Lily then squirted him with milk.

"Aaugh!" shouted the very large Bowser Baddie. That attack packed a surprising amount of power behind it. Lily was able to spray it very quickly.

"Hee hee hee hee!" giggled Lily.

The big Goomba attempted to headbonk Lily, but Lincoln pushed her out of the way.

He then lifted the giant Goomba and threw him backwards, who fell on his back.

"Ow!" exclaimed the huge Goomba. Lincoln just might be stronger than Mario. Of course, Mario was the video game character, not him.

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall, right?" asked Lincoln.

"Yes, Lincoln. That's how gravity works." nodded Lisa.

Lily continued the assault by tossing baby blocks at the Goomba King.

One of them was a POW Block.

The giant Goomba went down, and he left behind some Star Points. It looked like Lily was not going to be disappointed today.

"I wonder where enemies go after we defeat them..." questioned Kooper.

 _Meanwhile at the Bowser Baddie Resort..._

"This sure is relaxing..." remarked one of the Goombas that had been defeated by Mario.

"I know, right?" asked a nearby Koopa Troopa.

This was the life...even if they did get beaten up by Mario.

 _Back on the airship..._

"Dang, you really are the girl that defeated the Goomba King! Personally I thought that she would be...older." answered the big Goomba. Of course, not everyone would admit that they had lost to a baby...even if it was someone like Baby Mario.

"She has beaten me in video games before..." noted Lincoln. Though Lincoln realized that he couldn't mold his sister after she wouldn't give up her blanket, she did genuinely enjoy playing video games with her brother and hanging out with her family.

Lily pulled out a video game controller and raised it above her head. Maybe she could receive a trophy for winning at video games as well as for thumb sucking. She certainly did like thumb sucking though. Why was her thumb so suckable?

Goombario looked at Lily nervously.

"You're not going to beat me up, are you?" asked Goombario. After seeing her take down that giant Goomba (as well as the Goomba King) he was actually starting to feel a bit nervous.

Of course, Mario had stomped many Goombas using his familiar jumping abilities (it didn't matter which video game he was in, Mario always had the ability to jump), but that was before he had visited Goomba Village.

Lily looked at Goombario.

She then handed Goombario a lollipop.

"I guess not..." answered the Goomba. Fortunately, as good as Lily was at taking down Goombas and as young as she was, she knew how to restrain herself.

Unfortunately, this was not Larry's only defense. The airship was more sturdy than that.

Shortly after the giant Goomba was defeated, the heroes discovered that there were several Bullet Bill cannons up ahead.

"I figured that I would use these to keep you busy..." said Larry from a distance.

"Good call." nodded Lincoln.

The Bullet Bills were fired directly at them.

"More Bullet Bill cannons!" warned Goombario.

"I guess I'll have to use my explosion power again..." noted Bombette. If there was anything a Bob-Omb that was good for, it was an explosion. However, not all Bob-Ombs were so happy to explode, such as the Pink Bob-Ombs at the Bob-Omb Battlefield. Wasn't there a painting that she could use to get there?

Bombette walked towards the Bullet Bill cannons, careful to avoid being hit by the Bullet Bills. Fortunately, she was not.

Meanwhile, Mario, Lincoln, and the others tried to avoid the Bullet Bills. Fortunately, they were more alert of them now that they had encountered them previously before.

In addition, they were able to jump on top of the bills, which made avoiding being hit easier.

"It seems that the Koopa Bros aren't the only ones that use Bullet Bills." noted Lincoln.

Mario jumped on the Bullet Bills, causing them to fall off the airship and for him to receive some Star Points...though he would likely receive more if he took out the Bullet Bill Blasters.

Lisa nodded. There was probably going to be more dangerous types of Bullet Bills in the future. Some Bullet Bills were made out of gold which made them much more effective.

Eventually, Bombette exploded, causing the Bullet Bill Cannons to explode.

"There! No more Bullet Bills!" exclaimed Bombette.

"Good job, Bombette!" shouted Lincoln.

"Looks like there's a room up ahead..." said Goombario.

Curiously, the room appeared to be some type of greenhouse. Why was Larry growing plants?

"I've been doing a bit of garden work..." said Larry.

They were about to find out.

Not long after they entered, a Piranha Plant attempted to bite Mario. As their names would imply, Piranha Plants had very sharp teeth...though they were more of a plant than a piranha, that was for certain. They weren't Cheep Cheeps.

Mario waved his hands frantically.

Another Piranha Plant spat a fireball at Lincoln.

Fortunately, he ducked in time.

"How are we going to get past them?" inquired Lincoln. There were a lot of sharp teeth that they were going to have to get past.

"These plants remind me of a science experiment gone wrong." answered Lisa. She had read a book about that.

Suddenly, Lana let out a fart.

"Whoops!" exclaimed Lana.

Immediately, all the Piranha Plants wilted and burst into Star Points. Lana made for a surprisingly good weed killer.

"Huh. I didn't know that I could use that to wilt plants." remarked the girl.

"That was disgusting! Yet surprisingly effective." said Lola.

Lana got to level up afterwards, meaning that now she would be even smellier. You couldn't use Lana and bath in the same sentence...unless you mud in front of bath.

Now that the Piranha Plants were gone, there was nothing stopping them from progressing further.

Up ahead was another room. They could hear growling inside.

"Be careful, I don't like the looks of this room..." said Lisa.

Lincoln heeded Lisa's advice as they entered the room.

Inside the room was a very large koopa who went by the name of Boom Boom.

As soon as he saw them, he began to clench his fists.

"Boom Boom smash puny Mario and Lincoln!" exclaimed Boom Boom. Oddly, despite him being called "Boom Boom", he was not a Bob-Omb, rather a Koopa Troopa. Some Koopas had names that made senses, some that didn't.

"Say hello to a little friend of mine! Or should I say big friend?" shouted Larry.

"Hello?" asked Lily.

"Oh man!" exclaimed Lincoln. It looked like Boom Boom was guarding the Koopalings once again. He was fought a lot of times in Super Mario Bros. 3...though perhaps they wouldn't be fighting him as much as that game.

Immediately, he swung his fists towards Lincoln.

"Hiya!" shouted Boom Boom.

Lincoln got hit in the face.

"Ow!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"This is one strong Koopa." remarked Goombario.

"Who else would Larry Koopa choose to guard himself?" asked Lisa.

"Beats me." answered Kooper.

Boom Boom then followed by rolling around in his shell and spinning around, much like a Koopa. However, since Boom Boom's shell was larger, it was a more powerful technique.

Boom Boom hit Mario and sent him flying backwards.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.

Boom Boom entered a triumphant pose.

However, Lisa scalded him with one of her vials while he was celebrating.

"Grrr!" exclaimed Boom Boom.

In retaliation, he grew a pair of wings.

He then began to fly around the arena.

"How are we going to get him down?" asked Goombario.

Boom Boom dive bob-ombed Goombario.

"I guess that's how..." remarked the dizzy Goombario.

"Come on, focus already!" exclaimed Lola. If they didn't defeat him, they weren't going to defeat Larry, and they weren't going to get the first Star Spirit back to Star Haven where he belonged.

At that very moment, Boom Boom hit Lola in the face.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Lola.

"Heh heh." laughed Boom Boom.

Lincoln looked at Boom Boom.

"That's not a good idea." warned Lincoln.

"Huh?" asked Boom Boom.

Lola immediately glared at Boom Boom.

"What?" inquired the huge Koopa.

Shortly afterward, she began whacking the enormous Koopa with a frying pan as hard as she could.

"Nobody touches my face!" exclaimed Lola.

Though Boom Boom was by no means a weak Koopa, he could not withstand the trouncing and he eventually fell on the ground, giving Lola star points.

"Huh. It looks like I'm leveling up." remarked Lola.

As a reward, Lola got an increase to her attacking potential. Basically, she could swing the frying pan even harder. This worried the rest of her teammates considerably.

Up ahead was the warp pipe that Larry had gone down earlier.

"I guess we're going inside." remarked Lincoln.

Immediately, Lincoln, Mario, and their friends and family went down the pipe.

Sure enough, Larry was waiting for them.

"You managed to get past Boom Boom? I'm quite impressed." remarked Larry.

"You can thank my sister Lola for that..." stated Lincoln.

"Keep your hands off my face!" exclaimed Lola.

"Well then, this should be fun. Maybe after this I'll play a game of tennis." noted the Koopa.

Immediately, Larry Koopa pulled out his wand.

"Heads up!" exclaimed Larry Koopa.

Larry Koopa launched a teal fireball at Mario.

Fortunately, since it was rather slow Mario was able to jump over it.

However, Larry then followed by spinning around in his shell, much like the Koopa Bros. that they had faced shortly before.

The party had to split out in order to avoid it.

Afterwards, Mario leapt on Larry's head.

"Ow! Still jumping on people as always, Mario? Allow me to teach you a lesson." said Larry.

Using his magic, he summoned a Bob-Omb.

He then used his tennis racket to launch it at Mario.

It exploded directly on him.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Mario, who was now black with soot.

Fortunately, he shook the soot off.

"Here I go!" shouted Larry, launching more Bob-Ombs at the party.

"I've had enough of these explosions! I was in a cell full of Bob-Ombs! Well, peaceful Bob-ombs." noted Lola.

Immediately, Lola entered her toy car so that she could take on Larry herself.

"This is so much fun! I could do this all day!" exclaimed Larry.

"You don't have all day!" shouted Lola.

Quickly, Lola charged towards Larry.

"What the-" said the Koopa.

Using his tennis racket, he launched more Bob-Ombs at Lola.

However, Lola used her toy car to avoid them. It was too fast.

"Uh-oh..." thought Larry.

Lola then hit Larry with her toy car, sending him slamming into the nearby wall.

"Ow! Dang, I wish I had a car like that." remarked the Koopa. That would be handy for when he played Mario Kart along with his dad.

Larry decided to put the tennis racket away and pulled out a baseball bat.

"It seems that Lynn isn't the only one whose interested in sports." noted Lincoln.

He used it to whack Kooper.

"Ow!" exclaimed Kooper, withdrawing into his shell.

He then used it to whack Mario.

"Oof!" shouted Mario.

He then used it to whack Lana...

...but Lana whacked him with a wrench before he could do so.

"Ow!" exclaimed Larry, dropping the bat.

Lana then followed by jumping on top of him.

Deciding to keep his distance, Larry used his shell to get away from Lana.

"Now what I should do? Hmm..." thought Larry, pulling out his wand again.

This time, he used his magic to summon Koopa Troopas.

"There we go! Why don't you go out there and deal with our guests, will you?" asked Larry. He had a tennis match tomorrow.

The Koopas nodded, and they began to attack Mario and his friends.

However, Mario jumped on them so that they would withdraw into their shells.

He then sent the shells towards Larry, who was forced to try to avoid them.

He managed to dodge them all...except one.

"Aaugh!" exclaimed Larry, falling over.

The Koopas disappeared shortly afterward. Apparently they left to go get some ice cream.

At this point, he was starting to feel worn out.

He decided to cast another spell.

This time, two Bullet Bill cannons appeared.

Larry laughed as the Bullet Bill cannons opened fire on the Mario and Lincoln party.

They hit Lisa and Bombette.

"How many Bullet Bills does Larry have?" asked Bombette.

"He certainly likes having those cannons." remarked Lisa.

"Hahahahaha! I cannot be stopped!" exclaimed Larry. He was having so much fun summoning things to attack Mario and Lincoln with.

"Oh yeah?" asked Lana.

Immediately, she used her wrench on the Bullet Bill cannons.

Now, instead of being aimed at the heroes, they were aimed right at Larry.

"What?!" exclaimed the youngest of the Koopalings.

Larry was hit by two Bullet Bills at once.

"Ow ow ow..." murmured Larry.

The two Bullet Bill cannons disappeared shortly afterwards. It seemed Larry's summon magic only worked temporarily.

Since he was taking a beating, Larry decided to summon his clown copter.

He then began to move around in it, hoping to crash into Mario and his friends.

He succeeded with Goombario and Lily.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Lily as she was sent flying.

"Ow!" shouted Goombario. His cap nearly fell off his head. He would not look nearly the same without it.

However, Lola and Lana would not allow this chaos to continue.

While Larry was attacking the rest of the party with his clown copter (and using his wand to launch fireballs at them), Lola and Lana managed to jump onto the clown copter.

"Get off!" demanded Larry.

Unfortunately, Lola and Lana managed to climb into the clown copter...and sent it crashing into a nearby wall.

"AAAH!" screamed Larry.

Luckily, Lola and Lana managed to leap out in time.

Larry crashed into the wall, and the Clown Copter broke.

Shortly afterwards, he fell out of the airship.

"We did it, sis!" exclaimed Lana.

Lana and Lola gave each other a high five.

"Did we defeat him?" asked Lincoln.

At that very moment, the card containing Eldstar containing from the sky.

"I'll take that as a yes." answered the boy.

"It seems that when we defeat a Koopaling, the card containing the Star Spirit appears." noted Lisa.

"Good to know." said Lincoln.

Both Mario and Lincoln grabbed the card.

Shortly afterwards, Eldstar was freed from his prison.

"We did it!" exclaimed Mario.

"Thank you, Mario and Lincoln. I know that I could count on you and your friends and family. Now, are you going to retrieve the rest of the Star Spirits?" asked Eldstar.

"Yeah!" shouted Lincoln.

 _Meanwhile..._

"Ugh...that fight was a disappointment..." noted Larry. It looked like Mario had gotten the best of him once again. Well, he was just going to have to try again later. At least now his siblings would have a chance to join in the action. Mario and Lincoln hadn't beaten them yet.

However, he then realized that he was in Koopa Village.

"Huh. This is where I sent those Fuzzies to steal Koopa shells...wait a minute..." said Larry.

"It's the Koopa who stole our shells! Get him!" exclaimed the mayor.

Larry panicked and ran as he was chased by several angry Koopas.

It looked like he was about to suffer the consequences or what he did.

"I'm sorry! I won't take your shells again, I swear! I already have own shell, anyway!" apologized the youngest of the Koopalings.

 _It looks like Larry has been defeated. Mario and Lincoln have successfully rescued Eldstar! However, it's not nearly enough to defeat Bowser...and there are still six Star Spirits to go._


	13. Chapter 13: Dear Diary

Now _that Mario and Lincoln have rescued the first Star Spirit along with the rest of the party, it is time for them to search for the other spirits as well. But before we do that, they'll need to know where to look first._

 **Chapter 13: Dear Diary**

Bowser sat on Princess Peach's former throne, awaiting news from his subjects. He couldn't wait to hear what they had to say. Hopefully Mario had given up in trying to save both the stars and Princess Peach and had gone home with his brother...what was his name again?

Unfortunately, his subjects had bad news.

At that very moment, Kammy came in.

"Yes, what is it now?" asked Bowser.

"We've got bad news, your highness! The Koopa Bros were defeated by Mario and Lincoln!" exclaimed Kammy. They were currently locked inside their own dungeon. It was a cruel irony.

"What?! I could have sworn that the Koopa Bros would win! They managed to impress me! ME!" shouted Bowser.

"Don't feel too bad, your highness, Mario and Lincoln still have six Star Spirits to save. They're still not nearly as strong enough to attempt to rescue the princess and take back the Star Rod." explained the Magikoopa. Bowser was still safe.

"That's a relief...still, I was expecting the Koopa Bros to do a better job guarding the Star Spirit than this..." said the Koopa King.

"They did set up a fortress to keep the Star Spirit in and keep intruders out." pointed out Kammy.

"Yeah, but how were they going to defeat Mario if they couldn't even control their Bob-Ombs?" questioned Bowser. He knew that he had better control over his minions than that. Though people would think that Princess Peach and Bowser had nothing in common, they were both in fact respected leaders of their armies. That, and they both liked to play sports.

"You make a good point. Why don't you have a chat with the other Star Spirit guardians? Perhaps you can motivate them." suggested Kammy.

"I think I shall." nodded Bowser.

Immediately, he used his wand to communicate with the other guardians.

The six remaining guardians appeared.

"Yes, your highness?" asked Tutankoopa.

Curious, they noticed that Red Ninjakoopa seemed to be missing. Where exactly was he?

"I regret to inform you that jerk Mario and his stupid friends managed to obtain one of the Star Spirits!" exclaimed Bowser.

"What? That doesn't bode well for us!" shouted Tubba Blubba.

"Those poor Koopa Bros. Well, I suppose at the end of the day they are just kids." noted General Guy. He felt that way about his own troops sometimes, though he felt that his Shy Guy army was well organized.

"Curse you, Mario!" exclaimed Lava Piranha.

"You think we can still take him on?" asked Huff N Puff.

"Most likely. We're all stronger than they are...especially me. I'm the Crystal King!" exclaimed Crystal King.

"I'm pretty strong too..." pointed out the cloud monster.

"I'd advise you to improve the defenses that you have in place. I don't want this happening again!" shouted Bowser.

The Star Guardians nodded.

"Maybe I'll hide my ruins beneath the sand...that ought to surprise Mario." noted Tutankoopa.

The six remaining Star Guardians disappeared.

"I wonder what Princess Peach is up to..." said Bowser. He got the feeling that she wouldn't simply hang out in her room and wait for Mario to come rescue her. After all, when Mario tried to protect her from Bowser, Bowser clobbered him and defenestrated him from space.

She had better not trying anything funny. There had been a rumor started by his minions that there was a Star Kid flying around near her, but what help would he be? He was the one with the power over the stars, not him!

 _Meanwhile..._

Bowser Jr threw a temper tantrum.

"What's the matter?" asked Kamek.

"Lincoln and his sisters defeated Larry!" exclaimed Bowser Jr.

"Well, he has a tendency to be the weakest of his siblings." noted Kamek. It depended on when exactly he was fought in the game, such as when he fought Mario right before Bowser in Super Mario World or when he was the first Koopaling to transform a king with their own wand.

"Yeah, I know...still, Lincoln. got his hands on the first Star Spirit!" shouted Bowser's son.

"Ah yes...I also heard that Lincoln managed to find three more of his sisters..." said the magician. Two of them were twins and one of them was a genius.

"What?!" exclaimed Bowser Jr.

"I know." nodded Kamek.

"He...doesn't know where the next star Spirit is, right?" asked the son of Bowser.

"No, I don't think so." answered the Magikoopa.

Bowser Jr sighed in relief.

Currently, Clyde was serving Bowser Jr. milk.

"Here is your beverage, sir." said Clyde.

"Mmm, delicious! You can leave now." answered Bowser Jr.

Clyde decided to go visit Princess Peach.

 _A short while later..._

"Good news, Princess Peach! Mario and Lincoln managed to rescue the first Star Spirit!" exclaimed Twink.

"Wonderful!" shouted Princess Peach. Still, he was going to have to rescue all seven if he wanted to stand a chance to defeat Bowser.

But...where was Mario going to find the second one?

At that very moment, Clyde showed up.

"Hey, Princess Peach!" exclaimed Clyde.

"Hey Clyde. Did you hear about Mario and Lincoln managing to rescue the first Star Spirit?" asked Princess Peach.

"Yeah. I'm wondering how he'll rescue the second one." noted the boy. They were all over the Mushroom Kingdom, after all.

"Yeah. Me too." nodded the princess.

Suddenly, Princess Peach remembered something.

"I think there's a secret passage that we can use to get out of the room..." nodded the princess.

Clyde noted that he was rather lucky to be dismissed by Bowser Jr. However, he doubted that the guards would let him rescue the princess.

Princess Peach decided to look around.

Eventually, she found a secret switch.

She pressed a button and the fire in the fireplace disappeared.

"I guess this is where we need to go." noted the princess.

Since now she didn't have to worry about being burned, she decided to enter the fireplace along with Twink.

"You coming?" asked Peach.

Clyde nodded.

They both entered the fireplace, and it turned around to the other side.

"I guess the minister was right about there being a secret passage..." noted Peach. Of course, the minister was a smart person. It looked like they could use the secret passageway to get past the guards that were standing in front of the door.

Clyde nodded once again.

Curious, they noticed that someone had left a book on the desk. It had a big B on the front cover. It was also black and red and had a green bookmark.

"Huh? Who left that there?" asked the princess.

Clyde decided to open it. What kind of book was this? It didn't look anything that Princess Peach kept in her library. Those books were rather cheerful and relaxing. Not something that Bowser would read.

As it turned out, it appeared to be a diary of some kind.

Clyde decided to have a look. Who could have possibly written this? Of course, the big B was probably a hint.

"Dear Diary, today I figured out that the Star Spirits were refusing to grant my wishes. How dare they refuse to grant my wishes! I am the Koopa King! Nobody disobeys me! Except for Mario since he always seems to get away with it...darn him. I decided to head to Shooting Star Summit so that I could teach them a lesson! I took their Star Rod and I imprisoned them all in playing cards! Serves them right! Now it's time for me to make my own wishes!" read Clyde out loud.

"I think I might know who owns this diary..." said Twink.

"So do I." nodded the boy. Normally, he wouldn't read a diary (not even Lori's), but he decided that he could gather information about Bowser this way.

Besides, Bowser didn't hold the diary under lock and key like he probably should.

"Dear Diary, today I used the Star Rod to levitate Peach's Castle up in the sky! I'd like to see anyone try to rescue her now...also, I beat up Mario using the power of the stars! He thinks that he can stop me from kidnapping the princess? Big mistake! I also decided to send the Star Spirits in different locations. Wouldn't want anyone to try to rescue them now. Now nobody can stop me! Maybe now Princess Peach will finally like me..." read Clyde out loud once again.

"This is Bowser's diary!" exclaimed Twink. To think he of all people would leave his diary around for everyone in the castle to read. What would his minions think if they decided to take a look?

"Maybe I would like him if he stopped kidnapping me." noted Princess Peach. He needs a better way to express his feelings. On the other hand, this did explain some things, such as him always kidnapping her. Personally she preferred Mario since he's willing to risk his life for her...though on the rare days in which Bowser wasn't doing anything evil she would go golfing with him.

This time, Princess Peach would read the diary.

"Dear Diary, it appears that the Star Spirits aren't as secure as I thought. Mario managed to break into the Koopa Bros. Fortress along with his friends and they took the Star Spirit from the Koopa Bros! I hate Mario! Just like Junior hates Lincoln...apparently he thinks that Lincoln is everything that he is not. He's an only child while Lincoln has eleven sisters. Speaking of his sisters, he's managed to recover four of them as we speak. Lincoln and his sisters also beat up Larry. I wonder what the other Koopalings will think." read Princess Peach.

"I guess you were right, Twink. Mario and Lincoln really did recover the first Star Spirit." noted Clyde.

"He sure did. I think it was Eldstar, I believe." remarked Twink. He was the oldest out of all the Star Spirits...though perhaps not the oldest star in existence. That was the sun...who curiously enough lived in Flower Fields.

Princess Peach continued reading. There had to be something that they could use somewhere in the diary.

"Dear Diary, it seems that Mario is going to look for another Star Spirit. Too bad he doesn't know about the Star Spirit in the desert. Dry Dry Desert to be precise. It's all the way in the ruins buried underneath the sand. I'd like to see him to try to find them and rescue the Star Spirit. Did I mention that it's also guarded by the Koopa pharaoh, Tutankoopa? I'm sure he can clobber Mario and his little friends! I know that he's stronger than the Koopa Bros, anyway." read Princess Peach to Clyde and Twink.

"Hmm, I don't think we should celebrate Mario and Lincoln rescuing the first Star Spirit just yet. They seem to be increasing their security so that he can't get another Star Spirit." noted Clyde. This wasn't going to be as easy for them as before.

"It looks that way." nodded Peach. Surely Mario could rescue the Star Spirit anyway, right?

Suddenly, they heard footsteps.

"Uh-oh, someone's coming!" exclaimed Clyde.

"What should we do?" asked Peach.

"Quickly, through the fireplace!" ordered Twink.

Quickly, Peach and Clyde pressed the button on the fireplace so that they would go back to their room without Bowser spotting them. Bowser wouldn't be happy if he learned that Peach and Clyde had been causing mischief while he was sitting on the former's throne and thinking of things that he could wish for with the Star Rod.

However, they left the diary wide open.

"I know that I left my diary around here somewhere...ah-ha! There it is! But what's this? Oh no! Someone has been reading it!" exclaimed Bowser.

At that very moment, Bowser Jr. came in.

"What's the matter, dad?" asked Bowser Jr.

"Someone has been reading my diary! I think it was Princess Peach!" exclaimed Bowser.

"You sure it wasn't my new servant?" inquired Bowser's son. This hadn't happened before.

"This is so embarrassing!" shouted the Koopa King. At least she went back to her room along with Clyde.

"I wonder what page she stopped at..." questioned Bowser Jr.

"Junior, are you reading my diary?!" exclaimed Bowser.

"You hid the second Star Spirit in the desert? That seems like a good hiding spot..." noted the boy.

"Yes, I hid it in the desert, now stop reading my diary!" shouted the Koopa King.

"Dad, Princess Peach might tell Mario about this!" exclaimed Bowser Jr.

Bowser gasped.

"You're right. I have to stop Mario from reaching Tutankoopa!" bellowed the Koopa King.

"I'll go tell the Koopalings!" exclaimed Bowser Jr.

 _A few minutes later..._

"I cannot believe that Larry lost! I thought he was stronger than that..." said Ludwig.

"Wah!" cried Wendy.

"At least there's still six of us left." noted Lemmy.

"Yeah...I wonder what happened to Larry..." questioned Morton. Something told him that it hadn't ended too well for him, though he was likely still playing the game.

"Beats me!" exclaimed Iggy.

At that very moment, Bowser came in.

"Due to recent events, I am sending another one of you to guard Tutankoopa. Mario's coming for him next, I can feel it." stated Bowser.

"Didn't Larry already guard the Koopa Bros?" asked Ludwig.

"Yes, he did. But he failed and so did they. That's why I'm sending another one of you to deal with Mario and his friends." said the Koopa King.

"Personally I think I could do a better job than Larry did. Look how muscular I am!" exclaimed Roy.

"Are you volunteering, Roy?" asked Bowser.

"Why not? I could pummel Mario any time I wanted to. Even if he all his little friends backing him up like that boy Lincoln." remarked the shaded Koopaling.

"Very well then. Head to Dry Dry Desert and make sure that Mario and Lincoln don't get that second Star Spirit!" exclaimed Bowser.

Roy nodded. He was going to have fun stopping Mario and Lincoln from succeeding in their quest.

Roy left the castle on his clown copter.

 _Meanwhile_...

"Congratulation on saving me. Now I can start granting wishes for everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom...but since I work as a team with my fellow Star Spirits, I won't be able to grant big wishes, only small ones. At least I'll be able to do more than a Star Kid would be capable of." noted Eldstar. Though his childhood had been a long time ago, he remembered it fondly.

"We did it!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"Not to discourage you, but you haven't won yet. You have to rescue the other Star Spirits. And since Bowser knows about you rescuing me, he's likely going to make the defenses around the other Star Spirits stronger." said Eldstar.

"That makes sense." nodded Lisa. In the original Paper Mario, Bowser's minions got stronger as Mario rescued the Star Spirits. Huff N Puff in particular required smart tactics to win.

"I shall grant you some of my Star power to help you on your quest." said Eldstar.

Eldstar gave Mario, Lincoln, and the others a portion of his Star power.

"There! This should help you unlock more of your potential...you can also use Refresh to heal your HP and FP..." noted the Star Spirit.

Mario gave the thumbs up.

"Anyways, you're probably wondering how to use Star Power, aren't you? Well, it's rather simple. As you know, stars get their strength from the people that wish on them...so, if you gather an audience, they should be able to help you with that, especially if you appeal to the audience. It also helps if you focus." noted the elder Star Spirit.

At that very moment, several Toads took a seat nearby. Apparently, they were going to help the party use the power over the stars.

"Good luck Mario. I know Bowser may be stronger now, but if you can gain the power of the stars, you shall be stronger too. As for you Lincoln, good luck getting home." said Eldstar.

Mario and the others nodded.

"Let's head to Toad Town, shall we? They'll be glad to hear about our success." suggested Goombario.

"Yeah! I'd like to head back to town too..." nodded Lincoln.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Mario.

Together, the party decided to head to Toad Town.

However, they were being spied on.

"Time for me to have my revenge..." said an old foe of Mario and Lincoln.

 _It looks like the next Star Spirit is being held in Dry Dry Ruins. And yes, it's located in a desert. Don't expect it to be pleasant like Pleasant Path or Koopa Village. It does contain a village where you can prepare for Tutankoopa though._

 _In the next chapter, a familiar foe will show up...but it's not Larry. He's still being chased by an angry mob._


	14. Chapter 14: A Bad Egg

_In this chapter, Jr. Troopa is going to return! And yes, he's coming back. You probably remember him from the beginning of the story where he antagonized Mario._

 _And yes, they'll be seeing him again after that. Jr. Troopa does not stay down._

 _Afterwards, they're going to try to figure out a way to get to Mt. Rugged._

 **Chapter 14: A Bad Egg**

"I'm glad that we managed to rescue the first Star Spirit." remarked Lincoln. Now Star Haven would start to go back to normal.

"Yeah. I wonder how Star Haven is doing now that we managed to rescue the first Star Spirit." questioned Goombario.

"Hopefully things are going better for them." remarked Kooper.

 _Meanwhile at Star Haven..._

"Gee, it sure is lonely here without the other Star Spirits." remarked Eldstar.

He was sure that Mario and the others would rescue the other Star Spirits eventually...but it looked like it might take a while. He heard that Bowser had hid Mamar in a desert somewhere. They weren't going to get far unless they prepared accordingly.

As for the other Star Spirits, he wasn't exactly sure where they were. There were varying reports. Some said that one of the Star Spirits was in a valley. Another said that a Star Spirit was in a volcano. Another said that the Star Spirit was in a palace somewhere. He wasn't quite sure about those.

At that very moment, Twink showed up.

"Yes, Twink?" asked Eldstar. Eldstar had heard about Twink ever since he said that he wanted to be part of the Star Spirits someday. He was a big fan of theirs.

"I'm going to tell Mario and Lincoln where to find the second Star Spirit!" exclaimed Twink.

"Good, I wouldn't mind the company." answered the elder Star Spirit.

Twink went to go look for the two.

 _We now return to our heroes._

"Yay!" cheered Lily. Now they were closer to getting back home...though home was still a long way.

"Now that we've rescued the first Star Spirit, we should try to find the second one. I get the feeling that Bowser hid it somewhere." noted Lisa.

"Good advice...maybe Princess Peach can tell us something?" suggested Goombario.

"Why do people think that I look like Princess Peach?" asked Lola.

"Well, people think that I look like Mario...maybe if he married Princess Peach, I'd be what his daughter would look like." suggested Lana.

"Huh. That's a good point." nodded the pink princess.

"Hey, Mario! Hey, Lincoln! Remember me?" inquired a familiar voice.

"Uh-oh..." said Lincoln.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.

"What's the matter?" asked Kooper.

"It's that bully that wouldn't let us be in his playground...it looked big enough for the two of us and Goombario's grandpa..." said Lincoln.

"I've seen it once. I'd play in it if Jr. Troopa wasn't such a bully." noted Goombario.

At that very moment, Jr Troopa appeared...and tripped on his face.

"Did you think that you had seen the last of me, Mario and Lincoln? Well, guess what! I have returned! And now I'm going to humiliate you!" exclaimed Jr. Troopa.

"You already humiliated yourself." pointed out Bombette.

"Grrr!" shouted the young Koopa.

"Hey Jr. Troopa! Before you challenge us, you should know that there are nine of us and only one of you!" exclaimed Lincoln. He wasn't intending to take them all on by himself, was he?

Jr. Troopa noted that he wasn't actually expecting Mario and Lincoln to make so many friends so quickly. However, he had a plan for that.

"Oh yeah? Well, I brought help too!" exclaimed the bully.

Immediately, he pulled out a whistle.

As soon as he blew on it, Goombas and Bullet Bills appeared.

"Let's get him!" exclaimed Jr. Troopa.

"You do realize we've already faced those, right?" asked Lisa.

"You did? Well, this makes me feel sheepish...but I can fix that!" shouted Jr. Troopa.

Jr. Troopa blew on his whistle again.

"Try manning the Bullet Bill cannons!" ordered Jr. Troopa.

The Goombas nodded, and they hopped on top of the Bullet Bill cannons like Jr. Troopa had said.

"This is new." noted Lincoln.

One of the Goombas fired...another Goomba.

"Huh? Where are the Goombas coming from?" inquired Lisa.

"I don't know but I don't want to get hit by one." answered Kooper.

As soon as Kooper said that, one of the Goombas hit Mario.

"Oof!" exclaimed Mario. There certainly was an amount of force behind that attack.

"Hahaha! Revenge is going to be sweet!" shouted Jr. Troopa.

"Have you not heard of forgiveness?" asked Goombario.

"Who needs forgiveness? This is way more fun!" exclaimed Mario and Lincoln's persistent foe.

"But you might lose again..." pointed out Kooper.

"Lose again? What are the chances of that?" asked the youngster Koopa.

"Open fire!" ordered Lincoln.

Immediately, Lincoln's sisters attacked Jr. Troopa.

However, he withdrew into his shell to avoid the damage.

"Hahaha! Let's see you try to damage me now!" exclaimed the young Koopa.

"Dang, it seems he's more prepared this time." noted Lincoln.

"Maybe we need to defeat the minions to make him come out of his shell." suggested Lisa.

"That wouldn't be a bad idea." nodded the boy.

Fortunately, Lily was on top of that. She defeated the Goomba King.

Immediately, she whacked one of the Goombas that was on top of the Bullet Bill cannons.

The Goomba fell off, causing the Goomba Cannon to revert to a Bullet Bill cannon, crippling it.

"Dang it!" exclaimed Jr. Troopa from within his shell.

This gave Bombette the opportunity to blow up the Bullet Bill cannon.

They repeated the process for the other Goomba cannons as well.

Given no choice, Jr Troopa resurfaced from his shell.

"He's vulnerable! Get him!" exclaimed Lincoln.

Lana whacked Jr. Troopa with a wrench.

"Ow! I'm sending more reinforcements!" shouted Jr. Troopa.

"What is this time?" asked Kooper.

"Since you're a Koopa, I'll send in Koopa Troopas!" exclaimed the young Koopa.

Some Koopa Troopas showed up.

"We faced those too." pointed out Lisa.

"Well then, I guess I'll give them some Mushrooms..." said Jr. Troopa.

"Uh-oh." thought Lily. This wasn't going to end well.

Jr. Troopa tossed a Mushroom at one of the Koopa Troopas, causing him to grow big.

"Look at me! I'm huge!" exclaimed the enlarged Koopa Troopa.

However, this caused the other Koopa Troopas to run away.

Jr Troopa sighed as he withdrew into his shell.

The Big Koopa Troopa charged towards the party.

"Fe fi fo fum!" exclaimed the big Koopa Troopa, stomping on Goombario.

"Oh sure, pick on the little guy!" shouted Goombario. Unfortunately, he was vulnerable to being stomped like all the other Goombas, though he was more resilient than most of them.

However, Bombette knocked him over using an explosion.

He fell on his shell.

Apparently, even Koopa Troopas big as he was suffered from this weakness. The bigger they were, the harder they fell. They could thank gravity for that.

The big Koopa Troopa struggled to get up.

"Come on, get up already!" ordered Jr. Troopa.

The big Koopa Troopa struggled harder.

Wanting payback on the big Koopa Troopa for stomping him earlier, Goombario decided to headbonk him on his soft, warm, underbelly.

This worked surprisingly well.

However, the big Koopa Troopa got back up and rolled into his shell.

Fortunately, he was slower than ordinary Koopa Troopas.

However, the bigger size of the shell made it easier to attack the whole party at once.

Fortunately, Lincoln was able to grab onto his shell.

"Can you help me hold him off?" asked Lincoln.

Lana nodded, and she whacked the shell into a tree.

The big Koopa Troopa crashed.

"Oww..." murmured the big Koopa Troopa. He was feeling dizzy.

"So much for making him bigger." noted Jr. Troopa.

Kooper then finished him off with his own shell, causing him to produce Star Points.

Frustrated that his lackey had been knocked out, the shelled Koopa exited his shell once again.

He charged straight towards Kooper, knocking him down on his shell.

"Hiya!" shouted Jr. Troopa.

"Not again!" exclaimed Kooper.

Curiously, he heard that there were Fuzzies near Koopa Village that liked stealing people's shells. Fortunately, since the only shell that he had was an eggshell, he appeared to be safe. Sometimes being young had its perks.

Jr. Troopa pulled out his whistle to summon more reinforcements.

This time, Piranha Plants showed up.

"Did you face these too?" asked Jr. Troopa.

"Only once." answered Goombario.

Jr. Troopa tossed a Mushroom at one of the Piranha Plants, causing him to grow bigger.

Fortunately, since Piranha Plants were typically rooted to the ground, he didn't have to worry about them running away. That, and they seemed to be braver than the Koopa Troopas that he had encountered earlier.

The big Piranha Plant took a bite out of Lola.

"Ow! Those fangs are sharp!" exclaimed Lola.

"Nobody hurts my twin sister...even if we don't have anything in common!" shouted Lana. Of course, she did manage to win a beauty pageant despite not being traditionally beautiful. Perhaps she just needed to be believe in herself.

In retaliation, Lana burped in the big Piranha Plant's face.

"Yuck!" exclaimed the big Piranha Plant.

The other Piranha Plants began to attack Lana in retaliation, since she appeared to be the biggest threat to them.

"We better do something to protect Lana..." noted Lincoln.

Mario nodded. Fortunately, he brought a Fire Flower.

He used the Fire Flower to power himself up, and he tossed fireballs at the Piranha Plants.

As he struck the Piranha Plants with fireballs, the Piranha Plants began to wilt and produce Star Points. Of course, they would probably be back for future Mario games once somebody gave them fertilizer.

As the big Piranha Plant wondered what had happened to his friends, Lana whacked him with a wrench.

The big Piranha Plant wilted as well.

Frustrated that Mario kept beating up his friends, Jr. Troopa withdrew from his shell again.

This time, he pulled out some Mushrooms. However, these Mushrooms were not something that Mario and his friends should eat.

"Heads up!" exclaimed Jr. Troopa, tossing a Mushroom covered with hearts at Lily.

"Huh?" asked Lily.

As soon as the hearted Mushroom hit Lily, hearts appeared in her eyes.

"Whoa..." said the baby.

"What's the matter with her?" asked Lincoln. She didn't seem quite like herself.

"Oh no! She's been charmed!" exclaimed Goombario.

"She has?" inquired the boy.

"When you're charmed, you won't be able to focus on fighting your enemy...you're more likely to help them instead!" shouted the Goomba.

Lily gave Jr. Troopa some milk.

"Thanks..." stated Jr. Troopa as he drank up.

"What do we do?" inquired Lincoln.

"It should wear off eventually." noted Goombario.

At that very moment, Lily shook her head and came back to her senses.

She then returned to Lincoln.

"Here comes another one!" shouted Jr. Troopa, tossing another hearted Mushroom.

This time, he tossed the hearted Mushroom at Lola.

However, this didn't affect Lola at all.

"You're trying to flatter me? I'm not so easily convinced!" exclaimed Lola.

"I guess Lola is immune to being charmed..." noted Lisa.

"Scaredy rats!" shouted Jr. Troopa. It looked like Mario and his friends had ways to counter his strategies.

Jr. Troopa decided to pull out another nasty Mushroom.

"Hey! Why don't you have a taste of a poison Mushroom?" asked the young Koopa.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Mario.

The young Koopa tossed it at Mario, poisoning him.

"Mamamia..." murmured the poisoned Mario.

Fortunately, the poison should eventually wear off for Mario as well.

Even so, he was taking more damage than usual because of it. At least it would be less dangerous to him once he obtained more HP.

"Here comes another one!" shouted Jr. Troopa, tossing a Poison Mushroom at Lincoln.

However, Lana went in front of Lincoln and took the Poison Mushroom...

...which didn't have any effect.

"Not again!" shouted Jr. Troopa. These immunities that Lincoln's sisters possessed were rather frustrating.

Mario then stomped on Jr. Troopa, causing him to be knocked out.

"Woohoo!" cheered Mario.

Afterwards, the poison wore off.

"Darn it! I lost again!" exclaimed Jr. Troopa.

"At least you're a lot stronger than before." pointed out Lincoln.

"You're right, I suppose that's something to be proud of. But next time we meet, I'm going to be even stronger!" exclaimed Jr. Troopa.

"I admire your passion." answered the boy.

"Next time, I'll win! This time, I mean it!" shouted the eggshelled Koopa Troopa.

Jr. Troopa ran off.

Since Jr. Troopa was out of the picture, Mario, Lincoln, and the others decided to head back to Toad Town.

Shortly afterwards, Twink showed up.

"Hey, Mario! Hey, Lincoln!" exclaimed Twink. Twink noted that Mario had made more friends and that Lincoln had found more of his sisters than the last time that he saw them.

"Hey, Twink. Do you have any news for us?" asked Lincoln.

"As a matter of fact, I do. The next Star Spirit is being held in the Dry Dry Ruins. They're in the Dry Dry Desert...seems obvious, I know." nodded Twink.

"I guess we should get ready to enter the desert then." suggested Goombario.

Twink nodded.

"Any ideas as to how to get there?" asked Lincoln.

"Well, there's a train that's headed to Mt. Rugged...you can probably get to the desert from there." advised Twink.

"Good advice." nodded the boy.

Immediately, the party headed towards the train so that they could get to the Dry Dry Desert.

 _Meanwhile..._

"All aboard!" exclaimed the train conductor.

Immediately, several Toads boarded the train. They were excited about going to Mt. Rugged. Mountain climbing was so much fun.

However, someone was spying on the train.

"So, this is the quickest way to get to Mt. Rugged, eh? I better do something about it..." noted Roy.

"I can't wait for Mario to board my train someday!" exclaimed the conductor. He was bound to enter the train somewhere.

"Mario's not going anywhere!" exclaimed Roy, revealing his presence.

Immediately, the Toads gasped in surprise. They hadn't expected one of Bowser's minions to show up here, let alone one of the seven Koopalings. Besides, one of the Koopalings had already been defeated by Mario and Lincoln.

"Oh no! It's one of Bowser's Koopalings!" shouted the conductor.

"You got that right!" cheered the bald Koopaling.

To be honest, the conductor wasn't so surprised. He had heard not long ago that Larry Koopa had caused trouble in the Koopa Village by sending Fuzzies to steal Koopa's shells. They wouldn't be able to get them back unless they enlisted in the Koopa Troop.

Immediately, Roy picked up a nearby boulder.

"What are you doing with that?" asked the train conductor.

"You're about to find out!" exclaimed Roy.

Immediately, Roy tossed the boulder right on the train tracks.

"Oh no!" shouted the conductor.

Roy tossed the boulder very hard, as it left a crack in the boulder once he had tossed it.

"Sorry Toadies, it seems like your train is out of service!" taunted the Koopa that wore sunglasses.

"Maybe I should get a new job driving a boat..." suggested the Toad in charge of driving the train.

"Hahahaha!" laughed Roy as he left in his Clown Copter. It looked like a job well done. Why did Larry lose against Mario and Lincoln again?

"How is Mario going to get to Mt. Rugged now?" questioned the conductor.

 _Jr. Troopa lost again...but he'll be back. For now, Mario, Lincoln, and their friends and family need to work on getting the second Star Spirit. They'll deal with Jr. Troopa again later._

 _Unfortunately, it seems that Mario and his friends are going to have trouble using the train to Mt. Rugged...Roy has made sure that the train has gone out of service. Can they find a way to destroy that boulder?_


	15. Chapter 15: All Aboard

_In this chapter, Mario and his friends are going to find a way to get to Mt. Rugged. There's going to be someone waiting for them, as well as a Parakoopa who needs to keep better track of his mail._

 _However, Mt. Rugged also has Bowser's minions on the loose. They must not want them to go to Dry Dry Desert. Can they take them?_

 **Chapter 15: All Aboard**

Mario and Lincoln headed to the train heading to Mt. Rugged. Hopefully their friends could go with them. Since there were a grand total of nine in their group, they were probably going to need a lot of tickets...which would potentially require a lot of Coins.

On the other hand, they did receive a lot of coins from defeating the Koopa Bros and Larry. Why exactly would they need that many?

However, once they reached the train station, they noticed that the train didn't seem to be moving at all. What exactly was going on? It should at least be going SOMEWHERE.

"What's going on here?" asked Lincoln.

"Yeah! We want to go to Mt. Rugged!" exclaimed one of the Toad passengers.

The train conductor decided to explain the situation.

"One of the Koopalings showed up...he was wearing sunglasses and had a purple shell..." said the train conductor.

Mario jumped in surprise. He recognized that Koopaling.

"I guess they haven't given up after their failure to keep the first Star Spirit safe..." noted Lisa.

"We'll have to deal with him too." nodded Goombario.

"But before we do that, I think we'll have to deal with that boulder he put on the train tracks." said Kooper.

"Maybe I can lift it!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"I don't know, Lincoln. That boulder looks heavy even for you...you might hurt yourself." warned Lisa.

Of course, the same could be said if she tried lifting the boulder using her telekinesis...though she probably wouldn't hurt herself since she would likely be at a distance when she tried lifting it.

"Maybe we could break it with our weapons!" shouted Lana.

Immediately, Mario, Lana, and Lily started doing just that, since they all had hammers or a weapon that was hammer-like.

However, though they left cracks in the boulder, there was still no way for the train to get to Mt. Rugged.

"Any other ideas?" asked Lana.

Lily could have sworn her rattle would do the trick. But this was a tough boulder.

Suddenly, Goombario noticed something.

"Isn't there a big crack in the boulder?" questioned the young Goomba.

"There is, actually." nodded Lisa.

At that very moment, Bombette knew where she was needed.

Immediately, Bombette went up to the boulder.

She then blew herself up and the boulder shattered.

"Alright! We should be able to get to Mt. Rugged now." stated Lincoln.

"Thank you so much! This train ride is on the Toad house." said the conductor.

"I guess today is our lucky day." noted Goombario.

Lily giggled.

Immediately, the nine of them entered the train.

Shortly afterwards, it sped off towards Mt. Rugged.

Quickly, it reached its destination.

A few seconds later, the door opened so that the passengers could get out.

"Thanks for being with us, Mario." said the train conductor.

Mario gave the thumbs up.

"But be careful, Bowser's minions are lurking around here..." stated the Toad. Bowser's minions seemed to be all over the place ever since he had obtained power over the Star Rod. Not even Toad Town was completely safe.

"Ah yes, they don't want us to enter the Dry Dry Desert..." noted Kooper.

If they wanted to get to Dry Dry Desert, they were going to have to fight for it.

Immediately, Mario and his friends stepped off the train.

Shortly afterwards, they noticed a Whacka.

"Tis is a fine day to be sure! Just look at the sky!" exclaimed Whacka. The sun certainly was bright among Mt. Rugged.

However, the weather also happened to be rather unpredictable. But for the time being, he was satisfied.

"This is a Whacka. He's part of an endangered species so I would advise you not to whack him with your hammer. But if you do, you'll get delicious Whacka Bumps." noted Goombario.

Mario noted that perhaps it was best not to whack Whacka. He didn't want the Whackas to end up like the dinosaurs.

"I see that you like sightseeing." remarked Lisa.

"Why, yes I do! You didn't think that I spent all day in my cave, did you? Just the other day I saw a Parakoopa that was delivering mail..." noted Whacka.

Mario remembered that there was a Parakoopa who had given him mail inviting him to go to Peach's Castle. Incidentally, that was when Bowser decided to strike and beat him up. Some party that turned out to be.

"I also saw a rather gloomy girl...she had black hair and never seemed to smile. It's a shame really...personally I love to smile!" exclaimed the mole.

Lincoln's eye widened in surprise. This sounded like somebody that he knew.

He decided to ask him another question.

"Does she say the word "Sigh" a lot?" asked Lincoln.

"As a matter of fact, yes, she does. Why is she always sighing?" inquired Whacka. He and Lucy were very different people.

"Guys, I think I might know where Lucy is!" exclaimed the boy.

"Perfect! Now we can reunite our family some more!" shouted Lana.

"The only question now is where exactly Lucy is...she's probably looking for somewhere more gloomy..." noted Lisa.

"I heard that she reads My Princess Pony...not even I would read that." questioned Lola.

"How'd you find out?" asked Lincoln.

"Well, I know I DIDN'T read it." answered the princess girl. She would rather read something that involved knights and dragons as well as princesses and ponies. Something more action-packed.

Immediately, the party went to go look for Lucy.

Meanwhile, Parakarry was flying around with a sack full of mail.

"Let's see now...I think that the citizens of Dry Dry Desert could use some mail, now couldn't they? That way they'll think about something other than how dry the Dry Dry Desert is. When was the last time that it ever rained?" asked Parakarry.

Little did he know that Lucy was nearby.

"Hey." said Lucy from right behind him.

"Aaah!" screamed Parakarry.

Unfortunately, since he was carrying a sack full of mail, he dropped a few of the letters he was carrying.

They scattered in the wind.

"Darn it! Look what you did! Now I have to pick up the letters that I lost!" shouted the Parakoopa.

"Sorry about that." apologized Lucy. Apparently, she shouldn't greet the mailman when he comes to deliver mail to the Loud House.

"Well, you might as well help me pick them up. Don't scare me like that!" exclaimed Parakarry.

Lucy nodded as she went to pick up the mail.

"Let's see now..." said Lucy. Where exactly had the letters gone?

Curious, she noticed that there was a ladder.

However, it was in a Monty Mole's mouth, and he didn't look friendly.

How was she going to get him to let go?

At that very moment, Lincoln showed up.

"Lucy!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"Huh. You greeted me first. That's new for you, Lincoln." remarked Lucy.

Lincoln noted that was the case. It was kind of relieving considering that Lucy often scared people by greeting them first.

"We're so glad to have you back!" shouted Lana.

"We missed you while we were in that prison cell." noted Lola. In fact, she missed her other sisters and Lincoln as well.

"That probably isn't so bad. I bet it was dark and gloomy." remarked Lucy.

"You bet! That place was a nightmare!" shouted Lana.

Lily shivered with fear. At least they managed to find a way to escape along with the Bob-Ombs. Currently, they were taking place in Koopa Village...though they weren't planning to change the name to Bob-Omb Village despite their new residents.

"What are you doing?" asked Lincoln.

"I scared a Parakoopa. Now I'm collecting the mail that he dropped." said Lucy.

"I guess you shouldn't have snuck up on him..." noted the boy.

"Yeah...I need to be more careful. Sigh." sighed the girl.

"If you want we can help you..." said Goombario.

"Sure...hmm, it looks like you've been making friends with the characters inside the game. That's nice...though I suppose we'll miss them if we manage to get out, now won't we?" asked Lucy.

"We can always play Paper Mario again...though hopefully we won't get sucked inside next time." noted Lincoln.

Lisa rubbed her hand behind her head.

"Can you help me with this mole? He won't let go of one of the letters that I need to find." asked Lucy.

The Monty Mole blew a raspberry at Lucy. He was keeping that letter.

"Well, we all developed unique abilities once we entered the game...maybe you have some as well." suggested the boy.

"Hmm..." questioned the scary girl.

Immediately, she walked up to the Monty Mole.

"Boo!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Aah!" screamed the Monty Mole.

He dropped the letter and dug away.

"Good job, Lucy!" shouted Lincoln. Apparently, Lucy was scarier to the Koopa Troop than she was to her family.

"Thanks." said Lucy.

However, it appeared that there were more Monty Moles in the area.

One of them went up to Lincoln and scratched him in the face.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Lincoln.

If they wanted to get the other two letters, they were going to have to fight the moles.

One of the moles hurled sand in Mario's pants.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario, who now had rather itchy overalls.

Another Monty Mole hurled a rock at Goombario.

"Ow! My noggin!" shouted Goombario.

However, Lana countered using a burp that incapacitated the Monty Moles near her.

Since she had enough Star Points, she got an upgrade for her wrench.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Lana.

Lola then followed by using her car to run over the other Monty Moles.

They all fainted.

As a reward, Lola got an upgrade to her princess car.

"Well, I'm a princess so of course I should receive a reward!" exclaimed Lola.

"Where do you think that the other letters are?" asked Lily.

"I think I see one over there." said Kooper.

As it turned out, there was another letter. However, one of the Bald Clefts had it.

"Where's the mailman? This letter isn't for me at all." said the Bald Cleft.

At that very moment, the party showed up.

The Bald Cleft gasped. It looked like Mario and Lincoln had managed to make it to Mt. Rugged.

"It's Mario! And Lincoln!" exclaimed the Bald Cleft.

The Bald Cleft charged towards the two.

However, Lucy cast a spell on the Bald Cleft, causing him to shrink.

"Abra kadabra!" shouted Lucy.

"Aah! I'm tiny!" screamed the Bald Cleft. How would he stand a chance against his enemies now?

The Bald Cleft fled, and Lucy got Star Points.

"I can use magic now? Awesome!" exclaimed Lucy. Maybe she should start wearing a witch's outfit.

However, more Bald Clefts were on their way.

"Let's get them!" shouted the Bald Clefts.

In retaliation, Lola spilled tea on the Bald Clefts.

"Ouch! Hot hot hot!" bellowed the unfortunate Bald Clefts.

Mario was rather fortunate that the Bald Clefts didn't have hair (or spikes). Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to jump on them.

One of the Bald Clefts charged towards Kooper and hit him with his head.

"Ow!" exclaimed Kooper, who struggled to keep his balance.

Lily pulled out a POW Block, and the Bald Clefts were defeated. POW Blocks were good for piercing defense.

"Hee hee hee hee!" giggled Lily.

"Now then, where's the last letter?" asked Lincoln.

As it turned out, the last letter was being held by a Spiny. Mario was not going to defeat his foe by jumping. He was going to have use his hammer instead.

"So, Mario thinks he can jump on Bowser's minions whenever he feels like it, doesn't he? Let's see him try it now!" exclaimed the Spiny.

"If that's a Spiny, then where's the Lakitu?" asked Goombario.

"Perhaps they're guarding a different Star Spirit." suggested Lisa.

Immediately, the Spiny charged towards Goombario.

"Ow!" exclaimed Goombario. Unfortunately, his headbonking wasn't going to be effective against the Spinies.

Well, at least until Lucy stepped in.

"Hey, you!" shouted Lucy.

The Spiny gasped and fell on his back.

Seizing his opportunity, Goombario headbonked the Spiny and he produced Star Points.

However, more Spinies were approaching. Lola noted that she couldn't simply run them over with her princess car, or she would get flat tires.

Fortunately, there was another way to deal with them all.

Lincoln picked up Bombette, and tossed her at the Spinies.

She exploded and sent them all packing.

"Yes!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"Show off." murmured Lola.

"There, now we got the last letter!" exclaimed Goombario.

"I guess I should give these to Parakoopa then..." noted Lucy.

Immediately, she set out to do so.

However, Parakarry was being attacked by two Bristles.

"Hurry up and give us our mail already!" exclaimed the two Bristles, who were poking Parakarry with their spikes.

"Ow! Stop!" shouted Parakarry.

"Leave him alone!" demanded Lincoln.

Immediately, the two Bristles turned their attention to Lincoln and his family along with Mario and his friends.

Mario attempted to hammer one of the Bristles, but he simply used his spike to poke him when he tried to do so.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.

"How are we going to get past those spikes?" asked Lincoln. Not only couldn't they jump on them, but they couldn't hammer them either. These enemies were very smart.

Lucy had a solution to that.

Immediately, she put on a ghost costume.

She then yelled "Boooooo!"

The Bristles were rather frightened, as they immediately withdrew their spikes out of fear.

"That ought to do it." noted Kooper.

Lily pulled out a POW Block.

"On the other hand, we could have done that too..." suggested Goombario.

Lily hit the POW Block, and the two Bristles burst into Star Points.

"Thanks. I really appreciate all you've done for me..." said Parakarry.

Curious, he wondered who Lucy's friends were.

"So...who are your friends?" asked the delivery Koopa.

"These are my friends...as well as my family members." answered Lucy.

"How many siblings do you have?" inquired Parakarry.

"I have ten of them." said the girl.

"Wow!" exclaimed the delivery Koopa.

"Yeah...the mailman has a lot of mail to deliver to them..." noted the girl.

"Well, I think I'll accompany on your adventure. You seem to be traveling a lot, don't you? You went all the way to Mt. Rugged." said Parakarry.

"It's true, we did." nodded Lily.

Immediately, Parakarry decided to join the party.

Since he was a Parakoopa, he could help the party get along large gaps...making Lincoln's life easier.

"By the way, I think I have some mail for you." noted Parakarry.

Parakarry pulled out some letters.

"Dear Goombario, we hope that you're having fun adventuring with Mario! Please let us know if you need anything! From your mother." read Goombario.

"Dear Kooper, thank you for helping us stop the Fuzzies! From Koopa Koot." read Kooper.

"Dear Bombette, thank you for saving us from the Koopa Bros! From your Bob-Omb cellmates." read Bombette.

"I see that your deeds haven't gone unnoticed." remarked Lincoln.

"Let us know if you get any more mail, OK?" asked Goombario.

Parakarry nodded. There were some Lakitus that could deliver him more mail regardless of where he was.

"Let's keep going, shall we?" inquired Lincoln.

The party nodded, and they continued heading to Dry Dry Desert.

However, they were being spied upon.

"What's this? Darn. I guess they must have found a way past that boulder I put on the train tracks. Right then...I'll just have to send someone that I know..." noted Roy.

How did a nice big bird of prey sound?

 _You probably noticed that I didn't have Mario whack Whacka...let's face it, Mario's supposed to be a hero. We don't want a repeat of the incident where Mario captured Donkey Kong and his son had to rescue him, right? At least Mario has become a better person since then._

 _In the next chapter, Mario and his friends are going up against a giant bird!_


	16. Chapter 16: Buzz Off

_In this chapter, our heroes are going to encounter Buzzar...he's a great big bird of prey, and he's guarding the way out of Mt. Rugged. And yes, though he's looking after a nest, he happens to be male. It's quite unusual, isn't it? Maybe his wife left him in charge of the kids._

 _Anyways, if they want to get to Dry Dry Desert, they'll have to defeat him first. But since he's one strong bird, it's going to take a while. Also, he's not the only only thing that they have to worry about._

 **Chapter 16: Buzz Off**

Unfortunately for Mario, Lincoln, and the others, there were more enemies waiting for them at Mt. Rugged.

On the lighter side, they had the opportunity to gain more Star Points so that they would get stronger. Lucy in particular seemed to be getting a lot stronger now that she was getting the hang of combat like the rest of her siblings.

Suddenly, they were attacked by a Monty Mole Tank.

"Oh no! The Monty Moles are driving vehicles!" shouted Lincoln. Dealing with them might be harder than he thought.

"Like my tank? Roy Koopa gave it to me!" exclaimed the Monty Mole.

"That's one big tank." remarked Lincoln.

Immediately, the Monty Mole Tank charged towards them, running Goombario and Kooper over. Goombario was stunned and Kooper fell down on his shell.

"I fell down!" exclaimed Kooper.

"This happens to you a lot." remarked Bombette.

"How do we stop that tank?" asked Lincoln. It looked to be rather sturdy.

The tank got ready to charge once again.

However, Bombette exploded in front of it, causing the tank to be damaged.

"Grrr! Now I'll have to repair it!" exclaimed the Monty Mole. At least he had some friends that could help him with that.

This time, he tried a different tactic.

Immediately, he launched several Bullet Bills at the party.

Fortunately for Lola, she pulled out a parasol and blocked them, protecting the rest of her comrades.

"See why people compare you to Princess Peach?" asked Lana.

"I'm staring to...still, Princess Peach is way older than I am." answered Lola.

"Maybe you'll grow up to be like Princess Peach?" suggested Lisa.

"Maybe..." questioned Lola.

The Monty Mole attempted to fire more Bullet Bills, but Lily blocked the cannon with her milk bottle.

This caused the cannon to explode.

"Nooooo!" shouted the Monty Mole. There went a lot of the tank's firepower.

This time, he resorted to tossing Bob-Ombs.

However, Lisa used her telekinesis to lift them up.

"What? Why are you flying in midair?" asked the Monty Moles.

"I don't know but I wish I brought a parachute!" exclaimed one of the Bob-Ombs.

She then dropped them on the tank.

The tank exploded, and the Monty Mole was sent flying.

The party received Star Points based on how they participated in the fight.

However, they had more to worry about than just a tank.

"Why are those birds riding flying carpets?" asked Lincoln.

"Huh?" inquired Lily.

"I don't know but I don't think they're too friendly." pointed out Lisa.

One of the Pidgits spotted Mario, and they began to charge.

"It looks like we're up against Pidgits!" exclaimed Goombario. Previously, he had thought that Pidgits were simply part of a dream that Mario had dreamt about one night when he was sleeping at his house.

Unfortunately, since Bowser had the Star Rod, perhaps he found a way to make dreams become real.

Immediately, one of the Pidgits flew towards Mario.

"Ow!" exclaimed Mario.

Since the Pidgits were using flying carpets, they were rather fast.

Another one of the Pidgits pecked Lily.

"Ow!" shouted Lily.

Perhaps they needed to find a way to get them off those carpets.

However, maybe they didn't have to.

At that very moment, Parakarry decided to enter the fray.

"Here's your letter!" exclaimed Parakarry, handing a Pidgit a package.

Curious, the Pidgit decided to open the package to see what was inside.

"I wonder who it's from?" asked the Pidgit.

As it turned out, it was a Bob-Omb.

"Oh no..." murmured the bird. This package must be from Mario.

The Pidgit burst into Star Points as soon as the Bob-Omb exploded.

However, more Pidgits were attacking.

Fortunately, Lucy had an idea as to how to take care of them.

Immediately, she started casting a magic spell.

"I wonder what this does." thought Lucy.

Shortly afterwards, a broomstick appeared.

"I get a broomstick? Huh. Being a witch really has its perks." noted Lucy.

"I guess I'm not the only one that can fly..." noted Lincoln.

Lucy nodded. She always wondered what it would be like to be a witch.

Perhaps now was her chance.

Quickly, Lucy rose up into the sky.

The Pidgits gasped in shock. Since when were there witches at Mt. Rugged?

"Try dumping water on her!" suggested one of the Pidgits.

One of the Pidgits did that.

However, instead of harming her, it simply annoyed Lucy.

"What was that for?" asked Lucy, who was now dripping wet.

"Oh man..." murmured one of the Pidgits. He could have sworn that would have done the trick.

Casting a spell, Lucy turned one of the Pidgit's carpets into a snake.

This did not bode well for the Pidgit at all.

"Aah!" shouted the Pidgit as he crashed into the ground and burst into Star Points.

Lincoln decided to join the fray as well. Lucy was one of his younger sisters so he might as well.

He decided to rise into the sky and join the fight.

"Should we try to get our coins back on these flying carpets?" asked one of the Pidgits. For a moment, it seemed like they would be effective...but unfortunately, it appeared that some of their enemies COULD fly too.

"C'mon, we got a discount!" exclaimed another Pidgit. You'd be surprised how many magic carpets were on sale at the Dry Dry Outpost. There was even a lamp that could be used to grant wishes...of course, considering Bowser had the Star Rod, they probably wouldn't work too well right now.

Lincoln punched one of the Pidgets, making him burst into Star Points.

The other Pidgits flew towards him, but he clapped his hands together to produce a shockwave.

This took care of the other Pidgits.

"Did you get them all?" asked Goombario.

"I think so..." nodded Lincoln.

Of course, there was bound to be more obstacles in their path. Where were all these baddies coming from?

Up ahead were some Rexes.

"Didn't we face those in the Koopa Bros. Fortress?" asked Lincoln.

"This time there seems to be more of them..." noted Lisa.

Fortunately, they knew how to deal with them.

Immediately, Mario stomped on one of the Rex's heads so that he could shrink it.

This was effective, and now the Rex was now easier to deal with.

However, this Rex did not come alone.

Another Rex charged towards Mario and stomped on him.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.

As a result, he ended up being crumpled.

Lincoln gasped.

"Huh? Oh wait, that's right. Mario's made out of paper in this game..." noted Lisa.

They were going to have to wait for him to get back up again.

Another Rex charged towards Lincoln.

However, Lincoln pushed him back.

Lisa then used her telekinesis to drop a rock on his head, and knock him out cold.

She then shot another Rex with her Duck Hunt gun.

The Rex charged towards Lisa.

Hoerver, Lily whacked the Rex with her baby rattle.

"Hiya!" shouted Lily.

"Ouch!" exclaimed the Rex.

But the Rex was still standing.

"Uh-oh..." murmured the baby.

"Let me give you a boost." stated Lisa.

Fortunately, the more she leveled up, the more concoctions that Lisa could make.

Immediately, she poured a chemical on Lily.

"Lisa? What did we say about experimenting on us?" asked Lincoln. Geo was her guinea pig, not them.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Lola. The last chemical that Lisa had used on her gave her pimples. She wasn't even a teenager yet.

"Relax...this one is safe...and only temporary." answered Lisa.

Lily grew much bigger.

"This reminds me of that horrifying daydream I had..." noted Lincoln. Of course, he had felt much the same way when he got shrunk and Lily took a look at him.

Fortunately, Lily was not planning to eat her brother since she loved him so much, as before.

Other than the size increase, the effects were immediately noticable.

As soon as she whacked another Rex, the Rex got dizzy. He was seeing Starmen.

Unfortunately, Mario couldn't grab them so that he would temporarily become invincible. Still, at least the Rex was vulnerable to attack now.

Lily turned back to normal shortly afterwards.

Mario used Multibounce, and the Rexes were defeated.

Suddenly, a Bub-Ulb sprouted out of the ground.

"Ah, that was a refreshing nap..." said Bub-Ulb.

"Can we help you?" asked Lincoln.

"Huh? Well, if you want you can have my seed. I'm hoping that someone will open a portal to Flower Fields someday so that everyone can enjoy its beauty. You'll need more than one if you want to open a gateway though." explained the Bub-Ulb.

"We'll keep looking for seeds so that we can go to Flower Fields later." nodded Lincoln.

"I'd rather go somewhere gloomy..." said Lucy.

"Funny you should mention that...I have a friend that lives in a rather gloomy place called Forever Forest...I'm not sure why he would want to live in a forest like that but at least it's close to nature..." noted the Bub-Ulb.

"I can totally understand that." said the scary girl.

"Oh. I guess you're into that sort of thing like he is." answered the plant.

After taking the seed from the Bub-Ulb, our heroes continued on.

However, they quickly realized that someone was blocking their progress.

"You there! You're Mario and Lincoln, are you not? Roy sent me to deal with you!" exclaimed Buzzer.

"Uh-oh!" shouted Goombario.

Immediately, Buzzer flew towards Mario and dropped him down.

"Ow!" exclaimed Mario. It was a good thing that he was made out of paper. Otherwise that could have hurt a lot more than it would have otherwise.

He then followed by pecking Lucy.

"Ow." said Lucy.

However, Lola hit Buzzar on the head in retaliation with her frying pan.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Buzzar. Lola hit very hard for a little girl.

in retaliation, he dropped an egg on Lola.

"Grrr!" shouted the princess.

"If he's a dude, then how is he laying eggs?" questioned Lisa. Shouldn't he be a female?

"I don't know. The Mario universe can work in strange ways." answered Lincoln. Of course, Buzzar was not a normal buzzard.

Lana hit Buzzar with a wrench.

"Strange, you look like Mario and Princess Peach...and yet, you're apparently not..." stated Buzzar. Mario was standing right in front of him and Princess Peach was currently high up in the sky.

"We already know that..." answered Lola.

Bombette exploded in Buzzar's face, causing a few feathers to fall off his face.

"So, you want to play hardball? I'll have you know that I have some bird friends..." said Buzzar.

Buzzar let out a screech.

Some Ravens showed up.

One of them sank her claws into Goombario.

"Ow!" exclaimed Goombario.

On the lighter side, the Ravens were rather large to be flying great distances.

Kooper rammed his shell into one of the Ravens.

However, it seemed that the Ravens wouldn't go down that easily.

Another Raven knocked down Kooper. They were strong birds.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Kooper.

Fortunately, Parakarry lifted him up.

"Thanks." said the Koopa.

He then dive bombed the Raven that had attacked Kooper, causing him to burst into Star Points.

Lucy then followed by casting a spell, causing one of the Ravens to turn into a Mini-Raven.

The Mini-Raven panicked and ran away.

Frustrated, Buzzar tried pecking Lucy again. She was causing him too much trouble.

However, Lucy was prepared this time and shot a blast of magic at Buzzar.

"Yeowch!" exclaimed Buzzar.

Lisa then followed by using telekinesis to toss Clefts at Buzzar.

The spikes caused him physical harm.

"Ow! Why couldn't they be Bald Clefts?" questioned Buzzar. At least they didn't have spikes.

Speaking of which, some Bald Clefts showed up to attack the party.

One of the Bald Clefts hit Parakarry.

"Ow! How am I supposed to carry mail when there are monsters attacking me?" asked Parakarry.

"Let me help you hold them off." answered Lucy.

Immediately, Lucy scared the Bald Clefts away.

Buzzar wondered why the Bald Clefts were so cowardly.

Then again, Lucy was rather scary. He wasn't going to flee from her though. Roy Koopa did entrust him with dealing with Mario and Lincoln.

Goombario headbonked Buzzar.

At this point, Buzzar was starting to feel tired.

He launched feathers at Mario and Goombario.

Mario ducked, but the feathers hit Goombario.

Another Raven attempted to attack Lisa.

However, Lisa picked him up using her telekinesis and tossed him at Buzzar.

The Raven burst into Star Points, and Buzzar took even more damage.

"Yes!" cheered Lisa.

However, Buzzar launched an egg on top of Lisa.

"Ow." said Lisa as she collapsed on the ground.

Lincoln gasped.

"Lisa is down!" exclaimed Lincoln.

Lily quickly handed her roommate a Mushroom.

Lisa got back up on her feet.

"Thanks, Lily." stated Lisa. She was going to be finger painting with her later...though she was going to use finger paint to create rather different drawings from Lily.

Parakarry launched himself at Buzzar, and he was defeated.

The Ravens decided to flee.

"Aww, you got me! Well, I guess I'll just have to let you go to Dry Dry Desert, now won't I?" questioned Buzzar.

Mario nodded.

"Just for the record, Dry Dry Desert isn't far from here..." pointed out the buzzard.

Sure enough, Dry Dry Desert was nearby. They could see sand up ahead.

"I guess we should get ready to enter the desert." noted Lincoln.

Lola nodded.

Fortunately, there was a shop nearby that they could use to dress up for the occasion.

"Are you going to visit the desert? Then you had better dress accordingly!" exclaimed a nearby Toad.

Unlike the Toads that lived in Toad Town, this Toad was dressed in a tagelmust and desert clothing. Apparently, he lived at Dry Dry Outpost, which of course was located in Dry Dry Desert.

"This wouldn't be a bad idea." nodded Lincoln.

Lincoln put on a white shirt and green pants.

Likewise, Lisa decided to put on an orange shirt similar to the one that she wore.

Lily's outfit mostly remained the same, but she put on a purple vest that was sleeveless.

Lola put on a purple dress...and of course was wearing a crown on her head. An Egyptian crown.

Lana's outfit remained the same, but now she was dressed in an outfit similar to what Mario looked like when he used a Fire Flower.

Speaking of Mario, he was wearing his Fire Flower outfit too.

Lucy decided to put on an outfit that made her look like a mummy.

"You sure you want to dress up in all those bandages?" asked Goombario.

"It makes me feel so alive...or maybe not." answered Lucy. Goombario probably knew what she meant.

"Anyone else?" asked Lincoln.

"I think we're good." answered Goombario.

Kooper painted his shell white...he would wash it off once they got out of the Dry Dry Desert.

Since they were all ready, they decided to enter the Dry Dry Desert.

However, Roy would not let them reach the ruins so easily.

"So...they defeated Buzzar, now did they? I guess I'll have to send someone else..." answered Roy.

Using his wand, he summoned the Koopa Kids. There were three of them in total. They each had different colored hair and shells so that people could tell them apart.

"Are we playing Mario Party?" asked one of the Koopa Kids. He had a red shell and red hair.

"No, you're fighting Mario and Lincoln!" exclaimed Roy Koopa.

"Awww..." complained the Koopa Kids.

"Where are they?" asked the Koopa Kid with a blue shell and purple hair.

"They're entering the Dry Dry Desert...go look for them." answered Roy.

The Koopa Kids nodded. Roy was counting on them.

Immediately, they ventured into the desert along with Roy Koopa.

 _Now there's nothing stopping Mario, Lincoln, and their friends and family from entering Dry Dry Desert. However, there are going to be foes waiting for them in the desert as well. Mario and Lincoln better watch their coin purses._

 _Also, the Koopa Kids have been sent after them. I had one reviewer request this so I figured why not? Of course, the Koopa Kids have only appeared in Mario Party games...but they have been in a lot of them._


	17. Chapter 17: A Dream Come True

_In this chapter, our heroes are going to explore the desert. Fortunately, there's an outpost that they can visit. Also, Kooper's dream comes true in this chapter. Can you guess what is it?_

 _I was originally going to name this chapter after the Dry Dry Desert somehow...but I figured that this would be a better title._

 **Chapter 17: A Dream Come True**

"So, where do you think the outpost is?" asked Lincoln. Hopefully they would be able to find it soon so that they would be able to gather supplies.

Parakarry decided to look around using his flying abilities. It seemed like there was sand as far as the eye could see.

However, he got the feeling that there were residents in the desert that would be able to help them obtain the second Star Spirit. He knew that the Dry Dry Ruins were in the Dry Dry Desert somewhere, but he wasn't quite sure where.

"It should be around the desert somewhere." noted Lisa.

"I sure hope so! This desert is scorching hot!" exclaimed Lola. She was starting to sweat. At least she brought some sunscreen. She took pretty good care of her skin.

"Yeah...it's probably best we're not in the sun for too long." noted Lana.

"Personally I would prefer going through the desert at night." remarked Lucy. It was actually cold in the desert at night despite the desert typically being associated with heat.

Curiously, there seemed to be footprints leading somewhere. Perhaps someone was there before them.

However, there were enemies in this area as well. It seems that Bowser's minions didn't want Mario or Lincoln to enter the ruins, though at the moment they didn't know where exactly the ruins were.

"It seems that Bowser's minions are looking for us...we'd best be careful." warned Goombario.

And yes, Bowser's minions could tolerate the heat. Some of them, anyway. Bowser had ice followers that didn't want to go in the desert, which was unfortunate since they were actually stronger than the desert ones.

At that very moment, a Bandit showed up.

He seemed to be eyeing the party's valuables very closely. Bandits were well-known for their greed.

Suddenly, he made his move.

He stole Mario's coins.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.

However, Kooper hit the Bandit with his shell before he could make off with them.

"Dang it!" shouted the Bandit. He was hoping to strike it rich.

He let go of the coins, and the Bandit released Star Points.

"Yikes! We better watch our pockets." noted Lincoln. He didn't want to lose any of his valuables to those thieving Bandits.

Fortunately, it seemed that it was possible to prevent the Bandits from stealing their coins.

However, it was doubtful that was the only Bandit in the area. Their pockets still weren't safe. It was rather unfortunately really since it would be nice to do some shopping later. They might get some valuable badges.

Other than the Bandits, there were some other enemies as well.

There were also some Pokeys. They always showed up in desert levels. There were other variants of Pokeys that actually didn't live in the desert though.

As soon as one of the Pokeys saw Lincoln, he fired a segment of his body at him.

"Oof!" exclaimed Lincoln. Unfortunately, Pokey segments were covered with sharp thorns. Pokeys were not huggable.

It might not seem practical for a Pokey to use their own body segments as a weapon (as eventually they would be bodiless), but they were capable of regenerating their body parts. Typically, the taller the Pokey, the more dangerous than they were.

Also, it wasn't a smart idea to try jumping on them. They were covered with spikes. Clearly whipping out the hammer was going to be the better option.

"Hmm, I don't think we should try jumping on them." noted Lincoln. It wouldn't be a good idea for him to try punching the Pokeys either. They had spikes on their body segments too.

Fortunately, there were other ways that they could deal with the Pokeys.

Lola used her car to crash into a Pokey, sending her body parts everywhere and leaving her vulnerable to assault.

The Pokey's eyes widened in surprise. How was Lola so strong? She packed quite a punch for a little girl.

Also, Mario could jump on her now.

Mario did so, and the Pokey burst into star points.

"I'm surprised that plants can survive out in the desert." noted Lola.

"Some plants can adapt to the desert, or cold temperatures. Take evergreens for example." explained Lisa.

As soon as the Pokey was defeated, more footprints appeared.

They seemed to be leading to someone, but it was too early to say who.

However, they got the feeling that this particular person liked exploring, as the tracks seemed to go throughout the desert. They were similar in size to that of a Koopa Troopa.

"I wonder where the trail leads." questioned Kooper. For some strange reason he thought that he would like what was going to be on at the end of it.

"Beats me." answered Bombette.

Some Buzzy Beetles appeared.

Bombette attempted to explode on one, but his shell protected him from the explosion.

"Phew!" exclaimed the Buzzy Beetle. He thought that he was in trouble for a second.

"Dang, I guess they thought about Bombette using her explosion abilities to take down enemies..." noted Lincoln.

On the other hand, they weren't spiky like the Spinies that they had encountered earlier.

Mario took advantage of that and jumped on a Buzzy Beetle to defeat it, causing more footprints to appear.

"It seems that we'll be able to follow this individual once we defeat enough enemies..." noted Goombario. He wasn't quite sure why exactly the footprints were connected to the enemies...but at least now they had an idea on what to do next.

Another Pokey launched a body segment at Lily.

However, she knocked it away with her rattle.

Lana farted on one of the Pokeys, causing it to wilt and burst into Star Points. Poison was a good way to go to deal with the Pokeys. Of course, other enemies likely had weaknesses like that, such as when a Koopa was flipped over on their shell.

However, some Pokeys were poisonous, so they would have to try a different strategy for those in the event that they encountered them. Fortunately, these Pokeys were not.

"More footsteps!" exclaimed Goombario.

"I think I see a camp up ahead..." noted Kooper.

As it turned out, there was a camp up ahead.

Kooper did not believe who he saw.

"Oh my gosh! It's Kolorado!" exclaimed the Koopa. He never thought that he would meet him here of all places. Perhaps they weren't the only ones looking for the Dry Dry Ruins.

"Colorado? I thought we were in the Mario universe, not the United States." questioned Lisa. It would be a long time before they would be able to escape from the TV and head back to their home.

"Not that Colorado! I mean Kolorado the Koopa explorer! I'm such a huge fan!" shouted Kooper.

"Oh..." said Goombario. It looked like today was Kooper's lucky day.

Of course, he had already met the person who he was such a big fan of, so it seemed natural that Kooper would meet his idol too.

"Let's see now...do you have any idea where the ruins are?" asked Kolorado. He was rather excited about finding the ruins and exploring its depths, even though the ruins would probably be dangerous inside. Rumor has it that there was a Koopa living there that worked for Bowser the Koopa King.

"I've looked all over the desert. But I've found nothing. I do hear a creepy voice that tells me to get away every now and then though. I sure hope that this desert isn't haunted or anything like that." noted a Koopa with a shovel.

"Kolorado! Over here!" exclaimed Kooper.

"Huh?" asked Kolorado.

Kolorado turned around and noticed that there was another Koopa from Koopa Village nearby.

Kooper approached Kolorado.

"There you are! I've waited so long for this!" exclaimed Kooper.

"Huh? You're the Koopa from my fan club! You're the leader, in fact!" shouted Kolorado. As a popular Koopa explorer Kolorado had many fans, though most of them happened to be Koopa Troopas and not Toads or Goombas.

"I'm so glad that I get to meet you!" yelled Kooper.

"That's what my fans WOULD say." agreed Kolorado.

"Do you need my help? And can I have your autograph?" inquired the Koopa.

"You certainly can, but first I need your help with something. I've been searching for the Dry Dry Ruins as they apparently have a treasure of some kind...they say that it even shines." noted the explorer.

"I think we already know what it is." said Goombario. However, the star was not for Kolorado, it belonged back in Star Haven. If Kolorado wanted treasure, he was probably going to have to search elsewhere.

"You know what it is?!" exclaimed Kolorado.

"Yes, we do. We believe that it's the Second Star Spirit." explained Lisa. Just as Eldstar was held in Koopa Bros Fortress, so too was the second Star Spirit being held in Dry Dry Ruins.

"The Star Spirit? I thought that they all lived in Star Haven..." answered Kolorado.

"They used to...until Bowser came by and imprisoned them all in playing cards. He placed them in various places that were away from their home." said Lincoln.

"That explains why when I make a wish for treasure it hasn't been coming true lately..." noted the explorer.

"But my wish came true..." said Kooper.

"Well, you already managed to rescue one of the Star Spirits." pointed out Parakarry.

"You wouldn't happen to have mail from my wife, would you? Sometimes she wishes that I would stay at home more so I decided to send and receive some letters from and to her." asked Kolorado.

Parakarry nodded.

Immediately, he handed Kolorado a letter.

"Dear Kolorado, how is your adventure going? I heard that you went out in the desert...make sure to bring water and watch out for the twisters!" read Kolorado. "Sincerely, your beloved wife."

"Oh, my dear Nebraska..." said Kolorado.

"Thanks for giving me this. I'll remember it fondly." stated the explorer.

"No worries. I deliver mail all the time...though sometimes I lose them." noted Parakarry. His employers had told him to be careful with the mail so that this wouldn't happen.

"Sorry about that." apologized Lucy. She was actually scarier to the mailman than Charles was.

"Have you thought about going to Dry Dry Outpost?" inquired Lisa. Chances are they would have some answers here. They knew Dry Dry Desert more than anyone else.

"I figured that if I kept searching the desert I would find the ruins eventually...but no luck! I did meet a Nomadimouse once...he mentioned something about going to the store at Dry Dry Outpost. But I already have all the supplies that I need! Why would I need to go there?" pointed out Kolorado.

"He mentioned something about going to the store? We'll have to take note of that." noted Lincoln. Chances are that the storekeeper had some information for them.

If he could tell them how to get inside the ruins, then they would be that much closer to obtaining the second Star Spirit.

Suddenly, some Bandits (along with some other Bowser Baddies) entered the camp.

"Not again!" shouted the Koopa with a shovel. Ever since they had come to the desert, some Bandits (along with their friends) had attempted to steal their supplies. Why couldn't they keep their hands to themselves?

Mario, Lincoln, and the rest got ready to fight.

One of the Bandits took Mario's hammer, snickering as he did so.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.

He then whacked Mario with it.

"Oof!" shouted the plumber. This was rather ironic.

"Give that back!" demanded Lana, whacking the Bandit with her wrench.

The Bandit dropped the hammer, allowing Mario to reobtain his precious hammer. Without it, how exactly would he smash blocks?

Another Bandit took candy from a baby...that baby was Lily.

"Wah!" cried Lily.

"You can't do that! That's my roommate!" exclaimed Lisa. Of course, whenever Lily had a stinky diaper, she was the first one to know. It did distract her from her research sometimes...but she built a diaper changing machine so she didn't really have to worry about that.

In retaliation, Lisa used her telekinesis to lift the Bandit and force him to drop Lily's candy.

She happily sucked on her lollipop.

"Mmm..." said Lily.

A Buzzy Beetle tucked into his shell and hit Lucy.

"Sigh." said Lucy.

In retaliation, she cast a spell that turned him into a pig.

"Oink oink oink!" exclaimed the pig.

Unfortunately, he wasn't much of a help to his comrades in that particular state.

A Pokey launched a body segment at Lola.

In retaliation, she spilled hot tea on the Pokey.

"Can't we just use a big ball of violence to take care of the enemies?" suggested Lisa. That seemed like the best solution. Perhaps now that they had Eldstar on their side, they could do that.

"Oh, right." said Lincoln. That was what they did whenever the siblings fought each other over the remote.

Immediately, they decided to do just that against the enemies to see if it would work.

It turns out it did.

Since Lincoln liked coin collecting, he decided to collect all the coins that the enemies dropped, which was a lot.

"Thanks for helping us." said Kolorado.

"Do you know the way to Dry Dry Outpost?" asked Goombario.

"It should be around the desert somewhere...I think it's somewhere close to my camp." answered Kolorado.

Sure enough, they could see the outpost out in the distance.

Immediately, the party began to head towards Dry Dry Outpost, waving goodbye to Kolorado as they did so.

Kooper was disappointed to leave Kolorado be...but he got the feeling that they would be encountering him again in their adventure. Since the Star Spirits were all held in different locations, they had a long way to travel.

After reaching the outpost, the party decided to enter.


	18. Chapter 18: The Pulse Stone

_In this chapter, the Louds are going to talk to Moustafa. He just so happens to have a present for them...and not just any present. With his help they should be able to find the Dry Dry Ruins._

 _However, due to the added difficulty, they're going to have to get the Pulse Stone back from the enemy first. And yes, I'm aware that the Koopa Kids were replaced by Bowser Jr even though Bowser Jr is actually in this fanfic. Sorry if you're confused._

 **Chapter 18: The Pulse Stone**

As soon as they arrived in Dry Dry Outpost, the heroes encountered a familiar face.

"Chuck Quizmo, is that you?" asked Lincoln. Lincoln wondered how Chuck Quizmo had managed to traverse the desert on foot.

"Yes, it is I! Ready for another trivia challenge? I have more questions to ask you now that you rescued the first Star Spirit..." noted Chuck Quizmo.

"I bet you do." nodded the boy. Of course, they were rhetorical questions since Chuck Quizmo always seemed to know all the answers.

Still, the audience was likely looking forward to seeing how much they know about Paper Mario and the Loud House.

Chuck Quizmo was ready to ask some questions.

"So...what do we do here?" asked Lucy.

"Chuck Quizmo asks us questions and we can answer them...if we answer correctly, we get prizes!" exclaimed Lincoln. Fortunately, Lisa and Goombario were experts at it so it looked like they would be getting some nice things.

"Here's your first question...who was guarding the first Star Spirit?" questioned Chuck Quizmo.

"It was the Koopa Bros!" exclaimed Bombette.

"Thanks. You get some coins." answered the worm.

Bombette got some coins.

"Now then...do you remember where the second Star Spirit is being held?" asked the top hat wearer.

"The Dry Dry Ruins!" shouted Goombario.

Chuck Quizmo nodded. That was correct.

As a reward, Goombario got a plushie of a Pokey. It was rather ironic considering that Goombario faced Pokeys earlier. Too bad he couldn't bonk them.

"Now for some Loud House trivia...whose the youngest out of all the Loud family members?" inquired Chuck Quizmo.

Lily buzzed in.

"Me! Me!" shouted Lily.

"Yes, it's you Lily. You get some milk." shouted the worm.

Lily got some delicious milk. She was glad to have it after her trek to the desert. Exploring the Dry Dry Desert may be fun but that doesn't mean it didn't make her thirsty. Fortunately, there was water for sale at the outpost for those that needed it. They had their own well.

"Now for another trivia question...what is the first name of Lincoln and his sisters' mother?" asked Chuck Quizmo.

"It's Rita...wait, Rita Loud. How ironic." said Lincoln. Strangely enough he hadn't seen her face up until the time that the Loud House family had decided to celebrate Christmas.

"Here is a Star Piece." said the worm.

Lincoln got a star piece.

"Now for the next question...who was Lynn named after?" inquired Chuck.

"It's her father as well as mine, isn't it?" questioned Lucy. She was under the impression that he would name Lincoln after him instead of Lynn but at the time they weren't sure if they were going to be having a boy.

Lincoln noted that she of all people would know that. They were roommates...even if Lynn was far more energetic than Lucy was. Of course, it would make sense for Lucy and Luan to be roommates too. Luan was far more cheerful than Lucy was.

"Correct...I'll give you something spooky..." said the worm.

Lucy received a spellbook.

"Awesome!" cheered Lucy. She was going to have fun on this show.

However, she wondered just how many people were watching the show. She would have to be careful not to do anything that would embarrass herself on television. If that happened to Lola she would go to her room and she would never come out.

Of course, she was probably scaring the audience already...but she couldn't be someone that she wasn't, right?

Chuck Quizmo began to look for more questions.

He came up with another question.

"Who created Mario?" inquired Chuck Quizmo.

Mario buzzed in.

"Yes, Mario?" questioned the worm.

Mario pulled out a piece of paper, wrote a name down, and handed it to Chuck Quizmo.

"Shigeru Miyamoto! That is correct!" exclaimed the worm.

Mario received lots of spaghetti.

"Mmm!" cheered Mario. He just loved Italian food, though technically speaking he was born in the Mushroom Kingdom instead of Italy.

"We're breaking Paper Mario's fourth wall now?" asked Lincoln.

"Apparently." nodded Goombario.

Then again, he heard that there was a professor in Rogueport that could break the fourth wall too. He was a Goomba like he was.

"Now that I think of it...I think he created all of us too." answered Kooper.

"He's probably not as involved in these games as he used to be...there's a lot of developers now." pointed out Goombario.

Kooper nodded. That was true though he was heavily involved in Sticker Star. Not everyone liked the game because of it. Why only baddies from Super Mario World?

At least Color Splash was better if not for every Mario fan.

Chuck Quizmo decided to ask another question.

"Which family member of his does Lincoln look like?" asked Quizmo.

Lincoln buzzed in. He of all people would know the answer to that one.

"I think that's my grandpa." answered Lincoln.

Quizmo nodded. It looked like Lincoln had inherited his looks from his grandfather.

Lincoln received another star piece.

"Alright, that's all that we have time for today. By the way, you should check out the shop here. There's something that might interest you." remarked Chuck Quizmo.

Chuck Quizmo disappeared.

Mario nodded.

They decided to check out the shop to see if there was anything that they should get.

As it turned out, there was a merchant.

"If you want some information about the ruins, I would suggest buying a Dusty Hammer. You should buy a Dried Shroom too..." said the merchant.

Curious, Lincoln decided to do just that.

Shortly afterwards, a Nomadimouse appeared.

"Ahh, I see that the merchant told you where you can get information...my name is Moustafa. Pleased to meet you." stated Moustafa.

"Pleased to meet you too." nodded Lincoln.

Mario shook Moustafa's hand.

"So...are you here to ask about the Dry Dry Ruins?" asked Moustafa.

Lincoln nodded.

"Well then, you're going to need this!" exclaimed the Nomadimouse.

Moustafa pulled out a Pulse Stone.

"Oh? What's this?" questioned Kooper. Something about the stone was rather...strange. It reminded him of a compass.

"It's a Pulse Stone...you can use it to locate the ruins. Mind you, there's a Koopa pharaoh that's taken residence in there lately...I would be careful if I were you. I also heard that he was guarding one of the seven Star Spirits that were abducted from Star Haven..." noted Moustafa. Ever since Bowser stole the Star Rod he had assembled a large army for himself.

"We've already rescued one..." noted Lisa.

"Yes...but one Star Spirit is not going to be nearly enough for you to defeat Bowser...from what I know about the Star Rod, you're going to need all seven to counter its power..." remarked the Nomadimouse.

"That's why we're trying to find the second one..." answered Parakarry. While he was at it, maybe he should look for some more letters that he might have dropped.

Moustafa handed the Pulse Stone to Mario.

"There! Why don't you go and search for the ruins? You seem determined to return Star Haven back to the way it was...I would like to wish for some cheese right about now..." remarked Moustafa.

Lincoln nodded.

Immediately, the party left Dry Dry Outpost to search for the ruins.

"So...do you think that the Pulse Stone would glow when we're nearby?" asked Lana.

"I think it's rather pretty..." noted Lola.

Suddenly, the Koopa Kids showed up.

"What the-who are you guys?" asked Lincoln.

"Probably some kids that have too much time on their hands." remarked Lucy.

The Koopa Kids swiped the Pulse Stone.

"Mamamia!" shouted Mario. The Koopa Kids were good at mugging others.

The Koopa Kids laughed.

"Oh no! They've got the Pulse Stone!" exclaimed Lincoln.

They could hear Roy Koopa's laughter out in the distance.

"We're going to have to get it back." noted Goombario. They wouldn't stand much of a chance obtaining the second Star Spirit otherwise.

"Where do you think that they have gone?" asked Kooper. Hopefully they hadn't gone too far.

Suddenly, Lana picked up a scent, her nose twitching.

"Hmm...it seems that due to all the animals I have I'm starting to develop animal-like characteristics..." remarked Lana.

"What does that mean?" asked Lola.

"I managed to pick up the Koopa Kids' scent..." explained the plumber girl. Evil sure had a peculiar scent.

"Perfect! We can use it to find the Koopa Kids...I'm not so sure about the Star Spirits though. I don't know what they smell like..." stated Lincoln.

"Yeah...I think my nose has limits like that..." noted Lana.

Immediately, she used her nose to search for the Koopa Kids.

As it turned out, they had gathered in a camp.

However, the camp happened to be guarded. They were going to have to fight their way inside of it.

Fortunately, they were ready for a fight.

It was a good thing, since they noticed that the sand seemed to be rumbling underneath them. What was going on?

As it turned out, it was a Sandmaargh.

The Sandmaargh roared at the party.

"This thing is huge...do you think we can beat it?" asked Lincoln.

"Well, we DID beat the Koopa Bros." noted Lisa. However, their enemies had gotten stronger since then, though the Sandmaargh didn't seem to be as strong as they were when together.

The Sandmaargh dove into the sand, and bit Parakarry.

"Ow!" exclaimed Parakarry.

"It's a shame we haven't unlocked Sushi yet." thought Lincoln.

However, he then remembered that they might have an alternative.

"Lily, try splashing it with milk!" exclaimed the boy.

Lily nodded. That wouldn't be a bad idea.

She did just that, and the Sandmaargh was injured...not to mention soaking wet.

Mario then hammered it and it gave up some Star Points.

Some Bandits popped out from the sand.

"These guys again? We better watch our purses..." remarked Lincoln.

One of the Bandits attempted to take Mario's money.

However, Lucy zapped him with a blast of magic.

"Ouch!" exclaimed one of the Bandits.

Unfortunately for Lucy, another Bandit was attempting to steal her wand.

However, Lana whacked him with her wrench.

"Ow!" shouted the Bandit.

Some Monty Moles popped out from the sand and started throwing rocks at Lana.

"Ow!" exclaimed the Monty Mole.

This did not amuse Lola.

"Leave my sister alone!" shouted Lola.

In retaliation, she hit the Monty Moles with her car, knocking them out.

"We sure are getting a lot of Star Points..." remarked Lincoln as he punched a Bandit away.

At that very moment, the Koopa Kids revealed themselves.

"After them!" shouted the boy.

Fortunately for the party, they were eventually able to corner the Koopa Kids, who tucked into their shells and charged towards the party.

However, Kooper knocked the shells away with a shell of his very own.

The Koopa Kids spat out some fireballs, setting Mario's overalls on fire.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario as he began to ran around.

"Mario, you should stop, drop, and roll instead of running around. That spreads the flames." warned Lisa.

Mario proceeded to stop, drop, and roll to put out the flames.

However, one of the Koopa Kids punched Goombario in the face.

"Ow!" exclaimed Goombario.

Another Koopa Kid tossed sand in Parakarry's eyes.

"My eyes!" shouted Parakarry.

"It seems that they're fighting dirty..." noted Lisa.

"Indeed..." nodded Bombette.

However, they were ready to fight back with dirty tricks of their own.

In retaliation, Lincoln picked up Bombette and tossed her at the Koopa Kids.

She exploded and the Koopa Kids were knocked on their shells.

Mario then leapt on all three Koopa Kids, injuring them further.

The Koopa Kids got back up and clawed Mario in the face.

"Owoowowowow!" shouted Mario, who now had scratch marks on his cheek. At least their hands weren't as big as those of the Koopa King.

However, Kooper proceeded to ram into them with his shell.

At this point, the Koopa Kids decided to surrender. Mario had proven himself to be too tough.

"Alright, we'll be good! You can have the Pulse Stone!" shouted one of the Koopa Kids.

"I haven't seen you guys since Mario Party 7..." noted Lisa.

The Koopa Bros handed the Pulse Stone to the party.

"It looks like we'll be able to get to the pyramid now..." remarked Lucy.

"Kolorado will be so proud of me!" cheered Kooper.

"I bet he will...I know that Mario is proud of me." noted Goombario.

Lily smiled. Being in the desert was fun but she was getting sand in her diaper. They were getting close to obtaining the second Star Spirit.

 _Well, that's it for this chapter. The Pulse Stone was stolen but our heroes managed to recover it. Now all that's left is to find the Dry Dry Ruins so that they can rescue the Star Spirit. However, the ruins won't be guarded...they'll have to fight their way towards Tutankoopa._


	19. Chapter 19: I Want My Mummy

_In this chapter, our heroes are going to explore the pyramid. And yes, they could probably explore the archaeologist. I received a fair amount of requests to continue this fanfic, so I figured why not. I was surprised that it got this popular but I've found that I enjoy writing for this fanfic. And yes, Lola and Lana can be compared to Mario and Princess Peach...though at the time I didn't realize the connection between the two._

 _And yes, though Lana can be compared to Mario they're still of a different gender...it's kind of weird but I can live with that._

 **Chapter 19: I Want My Mummy**

As soon as they entered the pyramid, they heard a scary voice that gave them the shivers.

"Intruders beware...leave at once..." said a scary voice.

"Eep!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"A scary voice, huh? I'm intrigued..." remarked Lucy.

Lincoln wasn't surprised.

In addition to the scary voice, it was also fairly dark inside the pyramid.

Fortunately, Lisa had brought a flashlight, so it made it easier for them to see their surroundings.

Unfortunately, it seemed that there were monsters inside the pyramid. Since there was a Star Spirit inside, it made sense that it would be guarded.

In this case, it was more Pokeys. Apparently there were both Pokeys outside AND inside the pyramid.

However, it seemed that these Pokeys were different than the ones that they had fought outside the pyramid.

These ones happened to be poisonous...about as poisonous as a Poison Mushroom would be to Mario. Sometimes Mario wished that he didn't automatically collect every single powerup that he touched. It backfired on him sometimes.

At least 1-Up Mushrooms were something that he always wanted to have. You never knew when you were going to have an unfortunate accident when you went on adventures to rescue the princess as often as he did.

"Careful, we don't want to get poisoned..." warned Lisa. At least it wouldn't be hard for her to create an antidote if they did end up being poisoned, though it wasn't a risk that she was willing to take.

Goombario nodded in agreement. It seemed that whoever was guarding the Star Spirit had made the Pokeys stronger in order to help ward off intruders.

Sure enough, one of the Poison Pokeys launched a projectile at Lincoln.

"Ow!" exclaimed Lincoln.

Fortunately, he wasn't poisoned.

In retaliation, Lana hit one of the Poison Pokeys with her wrench.

"Gotcha!" exclaimed Lana.

The Poison Pokey toppled over like dominoes, leaving him temporary helpless for a while.

"Help!" exclaimed the Poison Pokey.

Seizing his opportunity, Kooper hit the Poison Pokey with his shell, collecting Star Points for the team.

Fortunately, she was immune to poison, so she didn't have to worry about the Poison Pokeys nearly as much as her teammates. It looked like she was a good choice to fight them.

However, one of the Poison Pokeys launched a body segment at Lola, causing her to be poisoned.

"Ugh..." murmured Lola as her face turned green.

"You alright?" asked Lucy.

Lola nodded. However, it would take some time before the poison wore off.

Mario pulled out his hammer, and one of the Poison Pokeys burst into Star Points.

"Alright! Good job, Mario!" cheered Lincoln.

Mario gave the thumbs up. Looks like they were doing well in this fight.

However, it seemed that the Poison Pokeys had reinforcements. Apparently they were smart enough not to guard the Star Spirit alone. It was a big job after all.

At that very moment, some Spikes appeared. And no, this wasn't a booby trap. This was the Mario enemy. Though it wouldn't be surprising to find booby traps in a pyramid, now would it?

"How many spiked enemies are we going to encounter?" questioned Kooper. Goombario wasn't going to have an easy time fighting, that was for sure.

For some strange reason, they appeared to be producing spiked balls from their mouth.

Wouldn't swallowing those hurt? Lincoln knew that he wouldn't try it.

Well, it was apparent that being hit by those would hurt, that's for sure.

And to make matters worse, they would have to time their jumps carefully if they wanted to jump on them. Otherwise, they might get hit by one of the spiked balls.

One of them hit Mario in the face.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario. Those Spikes had good throwing arms.

"You alright, Mario?" asked Lincoln.

Mario nodded. It seemed that a fair amount of Spikes lived in deserts...though he also heard that there were Spikes living in the mountains as well.

Another Spike tossed a spiked ball at Goombario.

He became dizzy.

"Ow..." murmured Goombario.

"Oh no! Goombario!" exclaimed Kooper. Hopefully he would be alright.

Bombette exploded in front of the Spikes, sending several of them flying.

As they did so, they burst into Star Points.

Parakarry then followed by dive bombing more of the Poison Pokeys, making them burst into Star Points.

"That should hold them off for now..." noted Goombario.

Suddenly, Mario noticed that one of the Spikes had dropped something.

He decided to pick it up.

It was a Super Hammer!

"Alright!" cheered Lincoln. It seemed that Mario was stronger now. It made sense that Super Mario would have a Super Hammer, right?

However, some Buzzy Beetles had noticed them.

Now seemed as good of a time as any to use the Super Hammer.

Mario did so, and quickly noticed its increased potency. There was a reason why they called it the Super Hammer.

It was a good thing he managed to find it. It would be useful against stronger enemies...the normal hammer probably wouldn't cut it. Not to mention that as Kooper said, they had been encountering a fair amount of spiky enemies.

Still, he wondered what he should do with the old one.

Oh wait, Lily already picked it up.

"Hee hee hee!" exclaimed Lily, swinging it around.

"You sure you should be playing with that?" asked Lincoln. Last time he checked, hammers weren't toys...unless of course they were toy hammers.

"Well, she is pretty smart for a baby..." noted Lisa. She'd probably be alright. Regardless of how young she was, she was a good fighter and wouldn't injure herself.

Now that Mario had his Super Hammer, perhaps he could use it to get rid of obstacles in his path...obstacles that he wouldn't be able to dispose of with his regular hammer.

"What's that switch doing over there?" questioned Goombario.

Mario hit it with his Super Hammer.

Shortly afterwards, the sand in the room began to disappear.

"I guess now we know what that does..." noted Kooper.

Curious, Mario noticed that there was a Stone Block up ahead. It looked like the Yellow Blocks that Kammy Koopa had used to bar their path...only it was stronger.]

Naturally, Mario used his Super Hammer to break it.

The Stone Block broke and Mario discovered an artifact.

"Oh!" exclaimed Mario.

It was a Pyramid Stone.

"Something tells me we'll need this in order to find the Star Spirit..." remarked Lisa.

"Maybe there are others like it?" inquired Goombario.

"If that's the case we should keep looking for them..." suggested Lincoln.

The next room was filled with sand, unsurprisingly.

The catch? This room contained a Sandmaargh.

As soon as it saw them, it let out a roar.

"Uh-oh..." said the teenage boy.

The Sandmaargh proceeded to bite Lincoln.

"Ow!" exclaimed Lincoln.

Quickly, Lucy pulled out a Pumpkin Bomb.

As soon as the Sandmaargh opened up its mouth, Lucy tossed it in.

The Sandmaargh became dizzy.

Bombette noted that she should try exploding as well.

This worked surprisingly well, and the Sandmaargh exploded.

"Maybe we should hit the sand switch so that the Sandmaarghs don't get the jump on us..." suggested Goombario.

Mario nodded and hit the switch.

Suddenly, they heard barking.

"I warned you to leave...this pyramid is dangerous..." said the scary voice from somewhere.

"It's that voice again!" exclaimed Parakarry.

At that very moment, Roy Koopa appeared.

"Oh no! It's another one of the Koopalings!" exclaimed Lincoln. It seemed appropriate that this one would wear shades considering how sunny the Dry Dry Desert was.

"You really should listen to those scary warnings..." noted Roy Koopa.

As it turned out, there were Chain Chomps inside this pyramid, and Roy Koopa was carrying the Chain Chomps by a leash.

Personally Roy was surprised to see the party inside the pyramid. He thought that the Koopa Kids had made off with the Pulse Stone. But unfortunately it seemed that they had managed to reclaim the Pulse Stone from them.

Strangely, one of the Chain Chomps happened to be a Stone Chomp.

"Hey Chain Chomps! How would you like some chew toys?" questioned Roy.

The Chain Chomps nodded.

Roy Koopa released them, and the Chain Chomps proceeded to attack the party.

Roy noted that he should thank Iggy Koopa for them. He certainly loved his Chain Chomps.

Perhaps he should also thank Tutankoopa for providing him with that Stone Chomp...though he wondered why there were Chain Chomps that were made of stone in the first place. Maybe he could ask him.

One of the Chain Chomps bit Lisa.

"Ow!" exclaimed Lisa.

"Gee, I wish that these Chain Chomps were friendly like Charles is back home..." noted Lana.

Another one bit Lucy.

"Ow." said Lucy. Strangely, she didn't seem hurt too much. Perhaps she didn't feel too much pain.

"Who let the Chain Chomps out?" inquired Lincoln. Back when he first played Mario games, it seemed that the Chain Chomps were always attached to a post. But not these Chain Chomps.

"Probably who's sending all these scary warnings...I can't really think of anyone else to be honest." answered Lisa.

The Stone Chomp charged towards Lincoln.

Fortunately, he was able to punch it away with his bare hands.

However, he got the feeling that the Stone Chomps had more defense than the regular Chain Chomps, which would naturally make it harder for him to take them down.

Lisa pulled out her Duck Hunt gun and started shooting at the Chain Chomps, who began to bark.

This was followed by Bombette exploding on the Chain Chomps, making them burst into Star Points.

Mario whacked the Stone Chomp with his Super Hammer...which dropped something.

As it turned out, it had dropped a Diamond Stone.

"Noooooo! Not the Chain Chomps!" exclaimed the familiar voice. He was so fond of them.

"My instincts tell me there's one stone left to go..." said Lisa.

"I guess we better start looking for it then..." remarked Lincoln.

"Gee, I wish that we would start encounter enemies that were flying for a change..." stated Goombario. He was good at fighting those.

As soon as he said that, some Swoopers appeared.

"Huh...it seems that being in close proximity to a Star Spirit is allowing me to have my wishes granted..." noted the Goomba.

"Either that, or we're receiving wishes because of the one we already rescued..." suggested Lisa.

"Speaking of Eldstar, we could use a pick-me-up..." noted Lincoln.

Immediately, he summoned Eldstar who proceeded to heal them.

"Thanks...do you have any idea where the second Star Spirit is?" asked the boy.

"You're close to Mamar, trust me." answered Eldstar.

"Great!" exclaimed Lincoln.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the Swoopers wanted to bite into their necks.

"Get off me!" demanded Kooper. Unfortunately, he wasn't suited for fighting flying enemies.

However, it seemed that Lucy knew how to deal with them.

She proceeded to zap the Swoopers with lightning.

The Swoopers began to screech.

"We're not exactly used to light..." noted the Swoopers. They preferred the darkness, hence the reason why they lived inside the Dry Dry Ruins.

"I see..." nodded Lisa.

Goombario proceeded to headbonk the Swoopers as well.

This was then followed by Parakarry dive bombing them. Fortunately since he was a Parakoopa, he was able to attack the Swoopers, unlike Kooper who was basically helpless against them.

The Swoopers dropped...a Lunar Stone.

"A Lunar Stone? Why doesn't that surprise me?" questioned Lincoln.

Lucy nodded. What else would drop the Lunar Stone?

Up ahead were three Chain Chomp statues.

They set the three stones in and watched a hidden passageway opened up.

"What? You opened the hidden passageway? Well then, consider this your last warning! Stay away from this room at all cost!" exclaimed the scary voice.

"Something tells me that's where the second Star Spirit is being held..." remarked Goombario.

Lisa nodded. That was a pretty educated guess.

Ignoring the warnings, they decided to head into the room.

It was time for a fight.

Immediately, they entered the room...

...and they discovered a Koopa pharaoh sitting on the throne.

"Why did you ignore all the scary warnings? I thought you would be better listeners than that...and that you would get scared and run away" noted Tutankoopa.

"Yeah...I wouldn't try that on Lucy. She's actually into that sort of thing." said Lincoln.

Tutankoopa sighed. It seemed that he was going to have a hard time scaring Lucy Loud.

"Anyways...it seems that you want the sacred treasure of the sands, do you not? Well, as the pharaoh of this pyramid, I won't allow you to plunder my tomb!" exclaimed Tutankoopa.

"Yeah...we were expecting another boss fight after our encounter with the Ninjakoopas." nodded Lincoln.

"You thought correctly." nodded the pharaoh.

Tutankoopa whistled and a Chain Chomp showed up.

"Tremble before the ruler of the Dry Dry Desert!" exclaimed Tutankoopa.

Lincoln noted that he had another fight on his hands. At least he wouldn't be too tough, right?

 _It looks like the next Star Spirit is within reach...but they'll have to defeat the guardian and one of the Koopalings first..._

 _Also, Mario has a Super Hammer now. Isn't that awesome? Hopefully it will make his life easier._

 _In the next chapter, our protagonists are going to fight Tutankoopa, as I indicated earlier. And yes, he's the pharaoh of Dry Dry Desert. Quite a title, eh?_


	20. Chapter 20: Koopa Exodus

_Time for another chapter...in which our heroes go up against Tutankoopa. And yes, someone suggested the name of this chapter. I didn't use all the suggestions but I figured this would be a good title as any. They're going up against a Koopa pharaoh so why not? And yes, as you can imagine they will be leaving the pyramid...to go on an airship!_

 **Chapter 20: Koopa Exodus**

"It looks like if we manage to beat this guy, we'll be able to get the second Star Spirit..." noted Lincoln.

Mario nodded. However, he got the feeling that Tutankoopa was stronger than the Koopa Bros...otherwise it probably wouldn't taken them as long as it did in order to find the pyramid in the first place.

Tutankoopa started off rather simple. He began to kick Koopa shells towards the party. Perhaps he was just getting warmed up.

"It looks like he took a page from your book, Mario." said Goombario.

"Maybe he took a page from mine?" suggested Kooper.

Mario nodded. Fortunately, since he had been doing so for years, he knew how to avoid being hit by them. Perhaps Tutankoopa's ancestors invented koopa shell kicking.

Parakarry struck Tutankoopa. Unfortunately, it seemed that kicking Koopa shells wasn't so effective against someone that could fly.

"Ow!" exclaimed Tutankoopa.

In retaliation, Tutankoopa summoned a tornado that vacuumed up Parakarry.

"Whoa!" shouted the mailkoopa.

He fell on the floor.

"You alright?" asked Mario. Parakarry apparently had a tendency to suffer from some misfortunes. Perhaps he should ask Merlee to cast a spell on him in order to give him some luck. He had delivered letters to her in the past so she would probably be willing to do so.

Parakarry nodded.

However, it seemed that the tornado was moving towards them...gradually. They should keep an eye on it if they didn't want to get caught up inside.

Parakarry attempted to slam into Tutankoopa with his shell again, but this time Tutankoopa blocked it with a coffin.

They were going to need to try to use a different tactic.

Still, Parakarry did seem to be an effective opponent against Tutankoopa.

Lily hurled a bottle of milk at the Koopa pharaoh.

"Ugh! Now I'm all wet!" exclaimed Tutankoopa.

In retaliation, he summoned a few more coffins.

These ones opened up to reveal Poison Pokeys.

"We've got trouble..." noted Lincoln.

Immediately, the Poison Pokeys launched body segments at the team.

Kooper instinctively rolled himself into his shell.

This gave Mario the idea to kick the shell towards the Pokeys.

They were knocked over like a pair full of bowling pins.

They burst into Star Points.

"Dang it! I guess I'm going to have to try using a different summon..." noted Tutankoopa.

He began to do just that.

This time, some Buzzy Beetles showed up.

They rolled into their shells and launched themselves at their opponents.

Mario quickly hammered the shells away, but one of them knocked him down.

"Ow!" exclaimed Mario.

Unfortunately for Bombette, it seems that their shells protected them from her explosions.

They were going to have to try something else.

Fortunately, Lola was able to knock them all away using her car.

Still making the use of summons, Tutankoopa decided to summon a Chain Chomp.

"COME!" exclaimed Tutankoopa.

At that very moment, the Chain Chomp showed up.

However, it seemed that he was rather hungry. They could hear his stomach grumbling.

"Have you been feeding him?" asked Lana. If so, it didn't seem like he was doing a good job.

Judging from how long the pyramid had been submerged underneath the sands, the Chain Chomp probably hadn't been fed in a long time.

"No, I haven't. Why do you ask?" inquired Tutankoopa.

The Chain Chomp proceeded to bite Lisa.

"Ow!" exclaimed Lisa.

This was then followed by Kooper.

"Ouch!" shouted Kooper.

"He sure is hungry..." noted Lana.

Fortunately, this gave her an idea.

Immediately, she pulled out some barbecue sauce.

"What is she up to?" questioned Tutankoopa.

Lana then squirted Tutankoopa with it.

"Ugh! You got this all over my fine robes!" exclaimed Tutankoopa.

"You remind me of my sister..." noted Lana. She didn't mind being squirted with barbecue sauce at all. It was rather fun. Besides, her sister Lily liked to play with her food as well, though since she was a baby she didn't really know better.

Suddenly, the Chain Chomp turned towards Tutankoopa. He recalled that his master wasn't treating him too well.

Not only that, but the barbecue sauce probably tasted good.

Immediately, the Chain Chomp turned on Tutankoopa.

"This worked surprisingly well..." noted Lana.

"Get it off me!" exclaimed Tutankoopa.

In the process, Tutankoopa fell off his perch and injured himself.

"Ow!" shouted the pharaoh.

"Good job!" supported Lincoln.

Lana gave the thumbs up.

This time it was Lucy's turn to attack.

She fired a burst of magic energy at Tutankoopa.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Tutankoopa.

However, he got back up.

"Hmm...I need to change tactics. These summons are actually starting to backfire on me..." noted Tutankoopa.

Since one of his opponents was using magic, why not use a magic spell of his own? He had summoned a tornado but it seemed to have disappeared.

He decided to whip up a sandstorm.

All of a sudden, our protagonists began to lose track of their surroundings.

"What's going on?" asked Lincoln.

"I can't see a thing..." remarked Goombario.

Unfortunately, this gave Tutankoopa opportunities to attack.

He started firing sun beams at the party.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Kooper.

"Ow!" shouted Lisa.

"Oof!" bellowed Lincoln.

Where were those beams coming from?

"I'm so glad that I thought of this...maybe I should have thought of it earlier." remarked Tutankoopa.

Suddenly, he found himself being struck by Parakarry.

"Ow!" exclaimed the pharaoh.

Fortunately for Parakarry, it seemed that his goggles protected his eyes from the sand. Some of his clients happened to live in the Dry Dry Desert so it would make sense that he would be prepared for a sandstorm.

Parakarry continued attacking Tutankoopa, and the sandstorm disappeared.

Now Tutankoopa was vulnerable again.

"Time to use a little dark magic..." noted Tutankoopa.

As soon as he cast a few words, a few Dull Bones appeared.

"I'd like to see you try to beat me now!" exclaimed the pharaoh.

"Why are you so full of yourself?" asked Lincoln.

"I'm the ruler of these lands! Of course I'm full of myself!" shouted Tutankoopa.

"You sure that's not a title you came up with?" inquired Lisa. She was wondering who exactly Tutankoopa's ancestors were.

"No, it wasn't!" answered the pharaoh.

Fortunately for Lucy, she was able to look into her spell book to find some summons of her own. Maybe she could use it to counter his own summons.

She decided to summon a Boo.

The Boo immediately went up to Tutankoopa and scared him.

"Aah!" exclaimed Tutankoopa.

This made him lose his concentration for a second, causing the Dull Bones to falter.

This gave Lana the opportunity to splash the Dull Bones with more barbecue sauce.

Once again, this got the Chain Chomp's attention.

The Dull Bones panicked and ran out of the pyramid.

"No!" shouted Tutankoopa.

"Maybe you need to stop being so egotistical..." suggested Lisa.

"I'll still beat you! I've got more magic spells where that came from!" exclaimed the pharaoh.

Tutankoopa cast another spell, and started launching fireballs at the party.

"Look out!" warned Lincoln.

"Hahahahaha!" laughed Tutankoopa.

However, Lily used milk to put out the flames.

Tutankoopa groaned. It seemed that the Loud Sisters had a counter for everything...and so did Mario's Team.

Mario whacked Tutankoopa on the head with a hammer.

Tutankoopa was starting to feel tired.

"I will admit that I'm impressed with your powers...but I'm the pharaoh of these sands! I can't fall!" exclaimed Tutankoopa.

"Don't be so sure." answered Lincoln.

This time, Tutankoopa directed a spell towards the ceiling.

Shortly afterwards, rubble began to fall down on them.

"You sure you should be damaging your own pyramid?" questioned Goombario.

"I can always repair it later...besides, this place is thousands of years old anyway..." noted Tutankoopa. Perhaps it was time to build a new pyramid.

One of the pieces of rubble hit Lisa on the head.

"Ow!" exclaimed Lisa. Now she had a headache.

Another hit Mario and made him dizzy.

"Mamamia..." murmured Mario.

"Guess you should watch your heads!" taunted Tutankoopa.

However, Bombette exploded in his face in retaliation.

"OWW!" exclaimed the pharaoh.

This time, he decided to use some illusionary magic to mess with their heads.

An enormous Chain Chomp appeared.

"Wah!" cried Lily. That was simply horrifying.

Goombario began to panic as well.

"Oh dear..." murmured Lincoln. It seemed that the illusionary Chain Chomp was wearing upon the minds of the younger members of their party.

However, Lucy didn't seem scared at all. He was grateful that Lucy was obsessed with fear even if it meant that she creeped out her siblings.

Then again, he got along with Lucy rather well regardless of how spooky she was.

Immediately, she cast a spell and dispelled the illusion.

"What?!" shouted Tutankoopa.

"I guess now we know whose the better spell caster..." noted Lucy.

Tutankoopa sighed.

"I suppose I'm no Kamek or Kammy Koopa...but I still know enough spells to beat you! Time for my strongest one..." said Tutankoopa.

"Strongest one? That doesn't sound good..." noted Lincoln.

Tutankoopa casted a spell, and suddenly the room was enveloped with quicksand.

"Whoa!" exclaimed the boy.

Immediately, the quicksand began to swallow the party.

"Run!" exclaimed Kooper.

Unfortunately, it seemed difficult to escape the spell.

"We're getting closer to the pit!" bellowed Lana.

Fortunately for Lincoln, he could simply fly over it.

Unfortunately for Tutankoopa, he decided to seize the opportunity to shoot spells at him.

"Get down there!" exclaimed Tutankoopa.

"Whoa!" shouted Lincoln. He was having a hard time avoiding those spells since he was a single target.

"It's over! Bow before the Koopa pharaoh!" demanded the pharaoh.

Suddenly, Parakarry hit him from behind. Apparently, he could fly over the quicksand pit as well.

Tutankoopa ended up falling directly into the pit.

"Nooooo! Nooooo!" exclaimed Tutankoopa.

"We did it!" cheered Lincoln.

He was spat out a few minutes later, bruised and battered.

"Fine...you win...perhaps I'm not as strong as I thought..." said the pharaoh.

Mario gave the thumbs up.

"Perhaps Bowser is more of a ruler than I am..." noted Tutankoopa. After all, he had the Star Rod. Not even his ancestors had ever gotten hold of such a mystical artifact.

Tutankoopa pulled out a magic carpet and left the pyramid. To be honest, he wanted to see the sunlight for a change after being in that pyramid for so long.

Besides, it was scary inside the pyramid sometimes. Why didn't he ever buy a flashlight?

At that very moment, Kolorado showed up.

"Kolorado? Is that you?" asked Kooper.

"Thanks to your efforts, I was able to find a treasure chest full of coins! I have to admit, this was a successful expedition..." noted Kolorado.

"You'll give us credit, right?" inquired the Koopa.

"Of course I will! You can have this badge!" exclaimed the archaeologist.

Immediately, he gave Kooper a badge with Kolorado's face on.

"Yes! Hooray!" cheered Kooper, jumping up and down.

"Although, it seems that the Koopa pharaoh left behind some treasure when you defeated him, didn't he?" inquired Kolorado.

"Ah yes, he did give us a lot of coins when we defeated him..." noted Lincoln. It seemed that as a Koopa pharaoh he had a lot of treasure. Perhaps that was why he hid the pyramid underneath the sands...so that he didn't have to worry about tomb robbers.

Well, that and he wanted to protect the second Star Spirit from intruders.

Suddenly, the Chain Chomp from earlier showed up. It seemed that he was still hungry.

Cutting the Chain Chomp some slack, Lana decided to throw the Chain Chomp a bone.

The Chain Chomp happily munched on the bone.

"There you go!" exclaimed Lana.

The Chain Chomp barked in excitement.

It then began to lick Lana in the face.

"You think that it wants to be your pal?" inquired Lincoln.

"I think I'll call him Chompy..." nodded Lana.

Now that Lincoln thought of it...Lana did happen to have a lot of pets. Perhaps her connection with animals also applied in the Mario universe. Chain Chomps were basically the equivalent of dogs in her universe...though there was a character named Poochy who actually WASN'T a Chain Chomp. He was in the Yoshi's Island series.

The Chain Chomp nodded. It seemed as good of a name as any.

Still, he wondered where his old owner went. He wanted to lick the barbecue sauce off of him.

Oh well. At least Lana seemed decent enough as an owner.

"By the way, I noticed that there seemed to be a star in the room up ahead...maybe you should grab it and-"

"Hahahahaha!" laughed a familiar voice.

"Roy Koopa!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"So, you defeated the Koopa pharaoh? He was always full of himself...but no matter. Since he's decided to leave his pyramid, he probably doesn't have any use for his old treasures anymore...so I decided to take one for myself!" exclaimed Roy Koopa.

That treasure just so happened to be Mamar, the second Star Spirit.

"Give it back!" demanded Lincoln.

"No way! Bowser wants this out of your hands...so I'll keep them in mine." answered the Koopa who wore sunglasses...at night.

Roy Koopa immediately flew away on his Clown Copter and headed straight towards the airship.

"I guess you should chase after him..." noted Kolorado.

Mario nodded. Hopefully he wouldn't get too far.

Immediately, the team grabbed onto the anchor and began to climb up the airship.

Would they be able to defeat Roy?

 _Tutankoopa has been defeated...but now they must defeat Roy in order to save the second Star Spirit...as a side note I decided to take advantage of Lana's connection to animals...I might feature Poochy in Chapter 5 since it's full of Yoshis but he probably won't appear just yet...just saying._

 _Since people love this story so much I decided to feature a fight with Tutankoopa. I had him use a lot of magic spells since it seemed that was his speciality. I also referenced his untimely exit when I had Lana pelt Tutankoopa with barbecue sauce. I wanted to be creative._

 _In the next chapter, we're going to see what defenses Roy has set up on his airship...and of course Roy himself. He's more muscular than Larry, I can tell you that._


	21. Chapter 21: Mamar's Day

_It's time for another exciting installment of Paper Loud House! This time, our protagonists are going to face Roy Koopa onboard his airship...but of course, it's going to be guarded. One of the guardians is the Tower Power Pokey. Do you remember it from Paper Mario Sticker Star? I figured I would include it as one of Roy Koopa's cohorts._

 _I actually uploaded a fanfic on Mother's Day...ironic, eh? Maybe I'll upload a fanfic on Father's Day someday._

 **Chapter 21: Mamar's Day**

"Roy's got to be on this airship somewhere..." noted Lincoln.

Mario nodded. When they found Roy, it would be best for them to prepare for a fight. After all, Roy was big and strong.

Fortunately, they had defeated one of the Koopalings already, so they knew at some level what to expect.

However, as soon as they began their search for Roy, they realized that they had company.

Apparently, there were Rocky Wrenches onboard the ship. Clearly they were working for Roy Koopa. Since this was an airship, it made sense that there would be mechanics onboard.

"For some strange reason people keep comparing us to Monty Moles..." noted one of the Rocky Wrenches.

"Do we really look like them?" inquired another Rocky Wrench. Personally he didn't really see the resemblance. Did they have shells on their backs or manholes on their heads? Not to his knowledge, they didn't.

The first Rocky Wrench shrugged. Now that he thought of it, most Monty Moles weren't mechanics, either.

Suddenly, they spotted Mario and Lincoln.

"Oh no! It's Mario!" exclaimed the Rocky Wrenches. He must be there for the Star Spirit.

Well, they couldn't simply give it to him. Bowser wouldn't be happy with them if they made Mario's adventure too easy for him.

Immediately, they pulled out their wrenches and began to fight them.

To be honest, they were a bit surprised that the Rocky Wrenches were actually fighting them instead of working on the airship. Then again, they were enemies in Color Splash, so perhaps it wasn't too surprising.

As soon as they saw the party, they began to throw wrenches at them.

"It seems that this airship is a bit more defended than Larry's airship was..." noted Lisa.

"They're using wrenches? That's my idea!" exclaimed Lana.

Lincoln nodded. It seemed that the later they fought the Koopaling, the more defended their airship would be. Luckily, this was only the second one.

The Rocky Wrenches continued tossing wrenches, forcing them to take cover.

"What should we do?" suggested Lincoln. If they tried to approach, chances are they would take a wrench to the face.

Fortunately, Goombario knew what to do.

"Try using Kooper!" suggested Goombario.

Mario nodded, kicking Kooper towards the Rocky Wrenches.

The Rocky Wrenches gasped in shock.

They were knocked over like dominoes.

"Aargh!" exclaimed the Rocky Wrenches. Why did Mario have to be strong? You'd think that a plumber wouldn't be so experienced in combat.

"Yahoo!" exclaimed Mario. He had received a lot of Star Points for taking down all those Rocky Wrenches.

Why were they called Rocky though? He didn't see how they had anything to do with rocks.

However, reinforcements were already on the way.

In this case, it was Charging Chucks, who were literally charging towards them.

"Charge!" exclaimed the Charging Chuck captain.

"Is Roy a football fan?" asked Bombette. There certainly were a lot of Charging Chucks on the airship, just as there were several Rocky Wrenches.

"I don't know but I don't think we want them to hit us..." noted Lincoln.

Lisa nodded. They seemed big and strong, much like Roy Koopa himself.

Sure enough, Goombario was trampled by the Koopa Football Players.

"Ow ow ow!" shouted Goombario, who was bruised all over.

The Charging Chucks then followed by tossing footballs at Lana.

"Ouch!" shouted Lana. If only Lynn were there to fight them. Surely she would know how to deal with some Koopa football players. She was simply the best at football.

"You'd think that they would be playing football instead of fighting us..." questioned Goombario.

"Whatever makes an efficient soldier, I guess." answered Parakarry.

Perhaps if they knocked off those football helmets, they would be more vulnerable to assault.

Lincoln kicked Kooper towards the Charging Chucks, knocking off their helmets.

"Alright! Now we can do some damage!" exclaimed Lincoln.

The Charging Chucks looked worried. It seemed that they had lost their advantage in defense.

Well, at least they still had strength in numbers, right?

Mario proceeded to jump on the Charging Chucks, taking out some of them.

The rest threw footballs at Lucy and Parakarry. Where exactly was the referee, anyway?

"Ow." said Lucy.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Parakarry.

"Touchdown!" shouted the Charging Chucks.

Luckily, he didn't drop any of his mail. If it fell off the airship, who knows where it would end up.

Bombette exploded in front of the Charging Chucks...and that was the last of them.

Mario and Lincoln continued through the airship.

Unfortunately for them, it seemed that Roy had Chain Chomps guarding the airship.

As soon as they saw them, they began to snap their jaws.

"Bark bark bark bark!" exclaimed the Chain Chomps. It seemed that they didn't like plumbers too much.

Either that, or they were miffed about being chained to wooden poles. Most Chain Chomps were chained to them.

"How are we going to get past these guys?" asked Lincoln. He wasn't looking forward to being bitten.

"Leave them to me." answered Lana.

Lana pulled out a dog whistle.

The Chain Chomps looked at the whistle with curiosity.

She blew on it and the Chain Chomps were pacified. They all began to pant.

"Yes!" cheered Lincoln.

"I think I'll keep one of these for myself..." noted Lana.

"You sure about that?" inquired the boy.

"Trust me...I know my way with animals." remarked the girl.

"Whatever you say." answered Lincoln. Now that Lincoln thought of it, Lana did have an awful lot of pets back home. Where did she get so many animals anyway? She particularly seemed to enjoy reptiles and amphibians.

Currently, the Chain Chomp that Lana was carrying was sleeping.

However, they encountered a more powerful opponent.

It was the Tower Power Pokey. He had been a normal Pokey until Kamek had given him a powerful sticker. And no, this wasn't Bowser's doing. He wasn't responsible for all the bosses that Mario and Lincoln were fighting believe it or not.

"You shall not pass!" exclaimed the Tower Power Pokey. "Seriously, don't try it. I'm covered with bristles. If you try to jump on me, you'll only get hurt!"

"You're probably too big for us to jump on anyway." noted Goombario.

"Huh. I never thought of that." remarked the giant Pokey.

"That's one big Pokey!" exclaimed Lincoln. How did it fit on that airship anyway? He was under the impression that such a giant would weigh the airship around. But apparently the airship was rather durable.

"You think we can take it down?" asked Kooper.

"Well, we've managed to beat regular Pokeys..." noted Goombario. Perhaps they could beat this one, regardless of his size.

"True." nodded Lana.

"I've had enough of these Pokeys." remarked Lola. Why couldn't they fight a different enemy for a change? Surely Bowser's army had more variety than this.

The Tower Power Pokey launched a body segment at Mario, who quickly hammered it back at the Tower Power Pokey.

"I find it a tad strange that I'm using my own body segments as a weapon...but whatever works I guess. I better be careful not to make myself fall apart though..." noted the Tower Power Pokey. He didn't want to spend his life living as just a head.

Unfortunately for the Tower Power Pokey, the body segment ended up hitting him in the face.

He almost fell backwards, but he kept his balance.

"Whoa! That was a close one! Perhaps I should change tactics..." noted the Pokey.

The Tower Power Pokey proceeded to launch his bristles at the party.

"Ow!" exclaimed Lola. That one hit her on the cheek.

"Ouch!" shouted Lana. That one hit her in the stomach.

"Tremble before the power of my sticker!" shouted the Tower Power Pokey.

However, Mario hit the Tower Power Pokey with his hammer, and the Pokey was knocked over.

The Tower Power Pokey gasped in shock.

Bombette then exploded on the Tower Power Pokey's head.

"Ouch! That really hurt!" exclaimed the magically empowered Pokey.

Quickly, the Tower Power Pokey regathered himself. He had been worried for a second there.

Perhaps it would be best if he did not take on Mario and Lincoln alone.

This time, he summoned some Pokeys to join the fray.

"You called for us, your majesty?" asked the Pokeys.

"I'm being attacked by a pesky plumber and a bunch of girls! I require assistance!" exclaimed the giant Pokey.

"Yes my liege!" exclaimed the orange cacti.

"More Pokeys?" questioned Lincoln.

"I'll pull out my wrench." answered Lana.

Lana did just that.

She proceeded to whack the Pokeys, causing them to fall over.

"Oh no!" exclaimed the Pokeys.

Lisa then shot them with her gun, causing them to burst into Star Points.

Lola then hit the Tower Power Pokey with her car.

He collapsed once again.

"Aargh! I've fallen and I can't get up!" exclaimed the enormous Pokey.

This was just not his day.

Mario then whacked the Tower Power Pokey on the head with a hammer, and then he went down.

"I've been dethroned! Then again Roy has always been in charge of me even if I'm supposed to be a king..." remarked the Pokey.

Sometimes life worked in weird ways.

They received a lot of Star Points for defeating the Tower Power Pokey.

"Alright! I feel stronger!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"So do I." nodded Lucy.

"Is that a warp pipe up ahead?" inquired Lisa.

Sure enough, there was a warp pipe up ahead.

Apparently, that was where Roy was.

They decided to climb down it.

Roy was waiting for them.

"So, you want my Star Spirit? You'll have to defeat me first! Too bad I'm too strong for you losers!" exclaimed Roy.

Lily threw her rattle at Roy's face.

"Ow!" shouted Roy. For a baby Lily was really strong.

Roy retaliated by punching Parakarry in the face.

"Ow!" exclaimed Parakarry. Roy certainly packed a surprising amount of strength behind his attacks.

"Why are you sending a mailman to fight me?" inquired Roy. Surely Mario could do better than that.

However, Goombario hit Roy on the head with a headbonk.

"Agh!" shouted Roy.

He then proceeded to jump into the air.

As soon as he landed, he created a shockwave.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Lincoln. Good thing he was capable of flight.

However, the same couldn't be said for his other party members other than Parakarry.

After being hit by the shockwave, Lily felt dizzy.

She threw up on the floor.

"Ugh! That's disgusting!" exclaimed Roy.

The rest of the party members regained their footing.

Roy proceeded to charge at the party.

He hit Mario in the face.

"Oof!" exclaimed Mario.

However, Lana's Chain Chomp bit him on the arm.

"My arm! Wait, is that one of my Chain Chomps?" inquired Roy.

He wondered why one of them would ever betray him. Was he not feeding him enough?

Lucy zapped Roy with a spell.

"Ouch!" shouted the bully.

In retaliation, he attempted to punch Lucy...

...but she suddenly burst into a puff of smoke.

"Don't tell me Lucy bailed on us..." stated Lincoln.

However, he got the feeling that Lucy had not in fact bailed on them.

"Where'd she go?" asked Roy.

"Boo." said Lucy.

Roy gasped in shock.

Lucy then proceeded to zap him with magic.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Roy. That lightning really hurt.

Lucy then followed by hitting him with her broomstick.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" bellowed the bully.

In retaliation, Roy started spinning in his shell.

He ended up hitting Kooper and Bombette.

However, Bombette exploded, knocking Roy out of his shell.

"Grr..." said Roy.

Roy summoned some Bob-Ombs.

However, Roy's plan had a flaw. It seemed that the Bob-Ombs were infatuated with Bombette. It wasn't too surprising how cute she was. Why was she pink anyway? It seemed that most Bob-Ombs were black as ink. Those that were working for Bowser anyway.

Instead of igniting their fuses, they simply stood there, marveling at Bombette's beauty.

"Oh c'mon!" exclaimed Roy. He needed to find better help. Maybe that way Mario and Lincoln wouldn't get past his defenses.

Roy dismissed the Bob-Ombs and summoned some Charging Chucks.

"Much better." remarked the Koopaling.

The Charging Chucks charged towards the party.

"Charge!" exclaimed the Charging Chucks.

However, Lucy turned them into Goombas.

"Noo!" exclaimed the Goombas.

"What's so bad about being a Goomba?" questioned Goombario.

Lily shrugged. Then again, she was the one who had defeated the Goomba King.

The Goombas cried and left the airship on parachutes. At least they would change back. Lucy's curse spells only worked temporarily.

Roy Koopa growled and created a shockwave again.

However, Lucy shocked him with lightning.

"Ow! Ow!" exclaimed Roy Koopa.

Lucy then tossed a pumpkin bomb at Roy.

"Oh no..." said the Koopa.

Roy Koopa was sent flying out the window.

"Yes! We did it!" exclaimed Lola.

Shortly afterwards, Mamar was released from her card prison.

"Thank you for saving me." stated Mamar.

"You're welcome!" exclaimed Lincoln.

 _Elsewhere..._

Roy rubbed his head. He had received quite a beating.

Curious, he noticed that he was on train tracks of some kind.

"Huh?" asked Roy.

At that very moment, the train began to move.

"Oh no..." said the Koopa.

Roy was sent flying by the train, causing him to crash straight into the L'il Oinks pig pen.

He landed straight into a puddle of mud.

"Oh man!" exclaimed Roy Koopa.

Well, at least he had survived.

 _Well, it seems that Roy Koopa has been defeated. Now they have two Star Spirits instead of simply one. Now it's time for them to find the third one...but the catch is...the guardian of the Star Spirit is invincible! Or is he? Perhaps Peach and Clyde can discover the truth of his invincibility. Surely there's some sort of weakness that they can exploit, right?_

 _Since the library is the best place to find information, Peach and Clyde shall be heading there. However, Bowser's minions are guarding Peach's Castle so they'll have to be sneaky._


	22. Chapter 22: Glory Of Invincibility

_In this chapter, we're going to get back to Peach and Clyde. They'll want to find information about Tubba Blubba. Rumor has it is that he's invincible, but is he really invincible? Let's find out._

 _Perhaps sneaking their way around Peach's Castle could tell them something. They just have to avoid being caught by the guards. Perhaps going to the library would be a good source of information like it usually is._

 **Chapter 22: Glory Of Invincibility**

At Peach's Castle, Bowser was dismayed to hear the bad news. Tutankoopa had been defeated. Seemed that he wasn't strong enough to beat Mario and his friends.

"Mario managed to rescue another one of the Star Spirits?" inquired Bowser.

Kammy nodded. It seemed that Mario was proving himself to be a hero as usual.

"Grrr...how did he manage to find the Dry Dry Ruins underneath the desert sands?" questioned the Koopa. He could have sworn that they were hidden rather well.

Kammy shrugged. Apparently Mario was good at finding things. Perhaps someone at the Dry Dry Outpost had told him something?

"You'd think that the heat would have eventually gotten to him, but nope, he simply continued on, along with his friend...that boy with the white hair!" exclaimed Bowser.

"He's got five more Star Spirits to go..." noted Kammy. Wasn't the next Star Spirit located in Gusty Gulch? There were a lot of Boos living there...though in retrospect they could try living in Forever Forest. It seemed like a more appropriate place for them to live in. There was even a mansion there for them to party in. And there weren't any green plumbers there to suck them up with a vacuum, either.

Perhaps she could get them to join the Koopa Troop. But they didn't seem too interested after one of Bowser's minions started gobbling them up. He had quite a ravenous appetite apparently...much like Yoshi.

"Well, it doesn't matter how many lives he has! His luck is about to run out. One of the Star Spirits is being guarded by Tubba Blubba, and he's invincible!" exclaimed Bowser. He'd like to see Mario beat someone who was invincible. He had already tried trying to beat him while he was invincible and he already knew how well that had turned out for him.

"Really? How is that possible?" inquired the female Magikoopa. She already knew how Bowser was invincible, but she was curious as to how Tubba Blubba was invincible as well. Was there another Star Rod somewhere? Last time she checked, there was only one Star Rod and that it was in Bowser's possession.

"A little help from my Star Rod. He was complaining that the Boos wouldn't leave him alone, so I made him untouchable and gave him the power to gobble them up. In return, he would guard one of the Star Spirits for me." stated the Koopa King.

Bowser proceeded to contact the five remaining guardians. They would want to hear about this.

The five remaining guardians appeared as projections.

They were wondering why Bowser had called the meeting. Once again, it seemed that one of them was not with them.

"Another one of the guardians has been defeated by Mario and Lincoln!" exclaimed Bowser.

"Another one?" inquired General Guy. "Who was it this time?"

"It was Tutankoopa!" exclaimed the Koopa King. So much for him ruling over the sands.

"Tutankoopa?" inquired Lava Piranha. In other news, he heard that Mario had been joined by a Koopa mailman. Why a mailman had joined him on his journey, he wasn't quite sure.

"I guess his reign has come to an end..." noted Huff N' Puff.

"I think I've probably been king for longer than he has..." remarked the Crystal King.

"Possibly..." nodded General Guy. Tutankoopa may have been a pharaoh, but unfortunately he didn't have an army on his side like he did. Perhaps that would have given him the edge...but it was too late to do anything about it now.

"No matter. As long as I'm invincible, I'm safe, right?" asked Tubba Blubba.

"You're not as invincible as me, but yes!" exclaimed Bowser. He'd like to see Mario and Lincoln get their hands on the Star Spirit now.

The five guardians disappeared.

"I guess Mario made Tutankoopa cry for his mummy..." noted Bowser.

 _Meanwhile..._

Like his father, Bowser Jr. was feeling rather frustrated. It seemed that Lincoln had gained the upper hand once again.

"Lincoln and his family defeated Roy? I thought he was the toughest Koopa around!" exclaimed Bowser Jr. There was no way he could have lost to Lincoln's family.

"Well, he's not the leader of the Koopalings..." noted Clyde. That title happened to belong to Ludwig, who was the oldest of them.

"No fair! He managed to find another one of his sisters too! I hear that she's really gloomy and scary!" noted Bowser's son.

"She is, yeah." nodded the boy. He had met her personally. She always seemed to sneak up on people.

"Grrr!" exclaimed Bowser Jr. This wasn't fair. How exactly did Lincoln have ten sisters anyway? Not even the Koopalings had that many members.

"No matter. Dad told me that Tubba Blubba is invincible. There's no way that Lincoln can beat him. Just like he can't beat my dad while he has the Star Rod! There's no need for any more Koopalings to fight Lincoln now!" exclaimed Bowser Jr.

"Really? Where is he?" asked Clyde.

"He's in Gusty Gulch. Apparently he likes munching on the Boos too. Wait, aren't there Boos working for Bowser? I'm not sure if he should be eating them." answered Bowser Jr.

Although...maybe Bowser could blackmail them into joining the Koopa Troop. Surely they would find that preferable to being devoured by Tutan Blubba. He had such a big appetite. Of course, Tubba Blubba was rather large so it seemed rather natural that he would eat so much.

Bowser Jr decided to go play with some blocks. They were so much fun to play with.

Clyde began to wonder for himself about what he had just heard.

"How exactly is Tubba Blubba invincible?" asked Clyde. Something told him that Tubba Blubba didn't have access to a weapon as powerful as the Star Rod.

Clyde decided to go talk to Princess Peach. Was Tubba Blubba truly invincible? There had to be some sort of weak point that they could exploit.

He snuck his way into Princess Peach's room. Luckily, he didn't get spotted.

"Yes?" asked Princess Peach.

"Mario managed to rescue another one of the Star Spirits..." explained Clyde.

"He did? That's good..." noted the princess. The closer that Mario got to rescuing her, the better.

"The only problem is that the next guardian is invincible..." answered the boy.

"What? He is? Then how is Mario supposed to beat him?" inquired Peach. This seemed like an insurmountable obstacle. Of course, Bowser was invincible too and she got the feeling that Mario could take him on...once Mario got his hands on all seven Star Spirits of course.

"Surely there must be a way..." remarked Clyde. Mario and Lincoln couldn't get the Star Spirit if they couldn't beat Tubba Blubba. And if they couldn't beat Tubba Blubba, Bowser was out of the question.

"I hope..." nodded the princess. It was bad enough that Bowser was invincible, but now it seemed that one of his guardians was invincible too.

Surely there must be a way to get past his apparent invincibility.

Perhaps she and Clyde should look around the castle for information.

At that very moment, Twink approached Peach.

"Should we investigate?" asked Twink. There might be some valuable information that they could learn about where they were keeping the Star Spirits.

"Alright, but we need to be careful. Bowser has guards all over the place." noted Princess Peach.

Apparently, Bowser didn't want Princess Peach escaping the castle. Of course, it was hard to escape her own castle when it was in the middle of outer space. If only she had a rocket of some kind.

Princess Peach and Clyde decided to sneak their way outside.

Sure enough, there were guards looking around. It would be best if they stayed out of their sight. They weren't fighters like Mario and Lincoln were.

"I'd rather be fighting Mario than looking around a castle all day..." noted a Koopatrol. It was such an honor to get to fight that Italian gentleman...even if they never seemed to beat him.

"You can fight him if he makes his way here." answered a Boomerang Bro. Personally he found that to be rather unlikely considering that they were all the way up in the sky, but wishful thinking was nice.

Fortunately, there was a way open to the library. Apparently, Bowser's minions didn't think that Peach would go there. Why would she want to read a book in a crisis like this?

They decided to head there for information. It seemed liked the best place to be.

They discovered that there were two guards talking to one another. They were a Hammer Bro and a Clubba.

Fortunately, they were too busy conversing with each other and did not notice them.

"Did you hear what happened recently?" asked the Hammer Bro.

"Yes...apparently, one of the Star Spirits managed to escape its guardian...seems that the magic imprisoning him was unstable..." noted the Clubba.

"I guess we should probably look for him..." remarked the Koopa. Granted, there wasn't much that he could do without his fellow Star Spirits, but it was better safe than sorry.

"Yeah...it's a darn shame really. There was no way that Mario could have beaten the guardian...he's invincible!" exclaimed the sleepy minion. He'd like to see Mario try to fight Tubba Blubba when he couldn't even touch him.

"Actually, I heard a rumor that Tubba Blubba has a weakness...he keeps it under lock and key though." answered the Hammer Bro.

"What weakness is that?" inquired the Clubba. If Tubba Blubba was invincible, why would he have a weakness?

"I don't know, but I hear that he's hiding something inside a mill..." noted the hammer-wielding Koopa. Fortunately, the door to the mill was locked, so perhaps they didn't need to worry.

"I see..." nodded the mace wielder.

"Wait, one of the Star Spirits escaped?" questioned Peach. That was rather fortunate. Perhaps he could make his way back to Shooting Star Summit.

"If that's the case Mario better find him before Bowser does..." remarked Twink.

Clyde nodded.

However, at that very moment, Bowser entered the library. He wasn't happy about what he had been hearing lately.

"What do you mean that the Star Spirit escaped?" asked Bowser. He gave Tubba Blubba invincibility and this was how he repayed him? Perhaps he had picked a poor choice in choosing him to be one of the Star Spirit guardians.

"Lord Bowser!" exclaimed the Hammer Bro. Apparently he had listened in on their conversation from outside the library.

"There is no excuse for this. I want a search party sent immediately! Maybe have one of the Koopalings lead it..." answered the Koopa King. He wasn't going to let Mario have this one.

"Yes, of course!" nodded the Clubba.

At that very moment, Bowser spotted Peach, Clyde, and Twink.

Peach gasped in surprise.

"What are you three doing here? Back to your rooms!" exclaimed Bowser. It seemed that not only could Tubba Blubba not be trusted with the Star Spirit, but the guards couldn't be trusted in guarding Peach and Clyde.

Bowser pulled out the Star Rod, and Peach and Clyde were transported back to their rooms.

On the lighter side, they had found some valuable information. Perhaps there was a way to beat Tubba Blubba after all. It that was the case, Mario had a chance of taking him on.

"I swear...I make Tubba Blubba invincible and this is how he repays me? Then again Clubbas are known for being lazy...I can't really expect anything less from them." answered Bowser.

 _A few minutes later..._

"Bowser has requested that one of you search for the Star Spirit. Tubba Blubba let it out right out of his grasp and I bet Bowser is rather cross with him. But for now we must search for the Star Spirit.." explained Kamek.

"That sounds boring..." noted Lemmy. Where exactly could the Star Spirit could have gone anyway? And why didn't Tubba Blubba keep an eye on him? Was he so sleepy that he couldn't be trusted to guard a Star Spirit? Most Clubbas were slackers...except for the White Clubbas. They didn't seem so sleepy.

"How did Tubba Blubba lose something so valuable?" inquired Iggy.

"I guess we couldn't rely no him..." answered Ludwig.

"But he's supposed to be invincible!" exclaimed Wendy.

"I suppose I could search for the Star Spirit...I don't really have anything better to do..." noted Morton.

"Good...why don't you take your Clown Copter and search for him?" questioned Kamek.

Morton nodded. He would take some members of the Koopa Troop with him.

He wasn't going to let that Star Spirit get far. Besides, they had lost two Star Spirits to Mario already. They didn't want to lose more.

"Where was the Star Spirit headed?" asked Morton.

"Some spooky forest called Forever Forest, I believe." answered Ludwig. He wasn't sure why the Star Spirit would want to hide there, but whatever kept him safe from Bowser's minions.

"Then I'll be heading towards Forever Forest! He can fly, but he can't hide!" exclaimed Morton.

Morton immediately left Bowser's Castle.

 _Meanwhile at the Dry Dry Desert..._

"Thank you for rescuing me, Mario and Lincoln! I'm sure that Eldstar will be glad to have me back at Star Haven..." noted Mamar.

Mario nodded.

"I heard that one of the Star Spirits managed to escape...you should go look for him." answered the Star Spirit.

"Do you know where he's headed?" asked Lincoln.

"I think it's a spooky forest somewhere..." answered the female Star Spirit.

"That's totally my hiding spot." remarked Lucy.

Lincoln knew his sister too well.

"I'm going to give you the ability to lull enemies to sleep. It should be useful against the Clubbas. They're always sleepy." noted Mamar.

"Maybe Bowser isn't paying them enough." noted Lana.

Immediately, Mario gained the ability Lullaby.

"Good luck, Mario. Rumor has it is that the next guardian is invincible...but it's just a rumor. I'm sure that you'll be fine." said Mamar.

Mamar flew back to Shooting Star Summit.

Now that Mamar had been rescued, it seemed best for them to head back to Toad Town. There they could decide where to go next.

They made their way back to Toad Town.

Suddenly, Luigi approached them.

"Hey, Mario! We just got a letter...of course, I'm not sure how we got the letter since Parakarry is traveling with you, but it was addressed to you!" exclaimed Luigi.

"Is this about winning a free mansion in a contest that we didn't enter? I don't think Mario's falling for the same trick twice..." answered Lincoln.

"No, it's not. Although...it does seem to have been sent by a Boo." noted the green plumber.

Curious, Mario decided to head back to his house in order to investigate.

Lincoln and his sibling followed, along with Mario's party.

 _How is Mario going to defeat Tubba Blubba you ask? You'll find out...in due time of course. Of course, considering that the Star Spirit had escaped, maybe they don't need to fight him...or do they?_

 _Also, who could have sent Mario that letter?_

 _In the next chapter, we're going to see what the letter Mario received is all about._


	23. Chapter 23: Forest Maze

_In this chapter, our heroes are going to enter the Forever Forest, which is like a maze. It seems that the Boos actually want their help with something, even though the Boos that Mario has seen in the past are working for the Koopa Troop. Unfortunately for them, they're going to have to make their own way to the mansion._

 _Why exactly are the Boos requesting their help?_

 **Chapter 23: Forest Maze**

Heading back to Mario's house, our heroes uncovered a message delivered to Mario. Luigi was nearby...and he looked like he had seen a Boo. His face was pale and there was sweating coming down his face.

Perhaps he should go get his Poltergust. Unfortunately, it was Professor E. Gadd's laboratory right now. It sure was nice of the professor to help him rescue Mario.

"Marrrioooo!" exclaimed Luigi.

"Hmm?" questioned Mario. Was he frightened of something? There wouldn't happen to be a spider in the house, now would there?

Mario decided that he should ask his brother what was the matter. He was the older brother so he figured he should give his younger brother some support when he needed it.

Although, he wondered why his brother seemed to cry like his baby self all the time. Was he depressed?

"Another Boo came! He said that he was a huge fan of Mario and he wanted his-a autograph! He also asked if Mario got the letter we sent him. By the way, whatever happened to-a Parakarry?" inquired Luigi.

Personally he was hoping that he wouldn't be visited by another Boo anytime soon. They gave him the shivers, much like Shiver Mountain.

"I'm on an adventure with Mario right now. Seems that unless we rescue the seven Star Spirits, I won't be receiving my promotion..." said Parakarry.

Mario decided to check the mailbox.

"Dear Mario, we desperately need your help. A monstrous Clubba by the name of Tubba Blubba is devouring the residents of Gusty Gulch. He's after us Boos for what we did to him a while ago...for more information, please meet us at Boo's Mansion in Forever Forest. It shouldn't be far from Toad Town. Lady Bow wants to speak with you in person. We know that you're collecting Star Spirits so we have something that will be worth your while. Sincerely, Bootler."

"The Boos are requesting our help?" asked Goombario. He thought that the Boos were working with Bowser. Why were they asking them for help?

"I wonder what they ever did to that Clubba." remarked Kooper.

Well, the Boos probably didn't want to ask Luigi for assistance. He had a bad reputation amongst the Boo community.

"We get to go visit a mansion? I've always wanted to visit one." remarked Lola.

"They said that they know that we're collecting Star Spirits and that they have something that's worth our while...what do they mean by that?" asked Lana.

"I guess we'll just have to visit the mansion in order to find out..." noted Lisa. Apparently, their mansion was located at Forever Forest, wherever that was.

"That seems like an odd thing for a Boo to do...asking help from Mario." noted Bombette. To his knowledge, typically Boos worked for Bowser. But apparently these Boos weren't working for him, since Tubba Blubba was in league with the Koopa King. Wasn't he one of the Star Spirit guardians?

"I suppose if they want us to help defeat Tubba Blubba, we should go visit them..." noted Bombette. If they couldn't beat Tubba Blubba, how could they beat Bowser the Koopa King?

"I suppose we should help them. But a haunted mansion in a haunted forest? That seems like a frightening place..." remarked Lincoln. It seemed like the sort of thing that you would find in scary movies.

"Sounds lovely." remarked Lucy.

Fortunately, they could go to Forever Forest from Toad Town, so they didn't have a long way to go. It looked like they didn't need to board a train this time.

"I didn't think our journey would take us through a haunted forest..." questioned Kooper. Personally he was more used to forests that WEREN'T haunted.

"Bowser hid the Star Spirits throughout the Mushroom Kingdom, so I think it's safe to say that we're going to be in all sorts of places." remarked Goombario. They still had five Star Spirits left.

However, the forest was being guarded by a Toad. It seems that they didn't want people to wander into a haunted forest...at least not without realizing what they were getting into.

Besides, the Boos probably wouldn't let them inside the mansion without an invitation.

Of course, there was also a haunted mansion in the Boo Woods, but that wasn't anywhere in Toad Town. It was someplace else. It was also filled with treasure too, even if the mansion wasn't actually real. Luigi made quite a bit of money off of that. He used it to buy a mansion of his own, though as it turned out he decided to stay at his house with his brother.

Maybe Lola would like to visit it once their adventure was over.

Mario tried talking to the Toad standing in front of the forest, but it looked like he wasn't accepting visitors.

"You want to go inside the forest? Sorry, but you're not allowed in there...it's full of Boos. They're scary. I just saw one not too long ago. He said that he was frightened of someone named Bubba Chubba or something like that...he was worried that he was going to be lunch." warned the Toad. Who exactly would want to eat a Boo? And did they taste like cotton candy?

Of course, he could probably just look at them and they wouldn't move, but since they were scary he didn't like looking at them. By the way, why did they have such long tongues? He wasn't quite sure. At least they could eat ice cream quickly.

Mario handed the Toad the invitation to the mansion.

"You were invited to the mansion? Well, I suppose if the Boos want your company, I shouldn't be stopping you. Mind you, the forest is rather confusing. You should probably ask someone for directions. Unfortunately. I don't have a map of the forest." noted the Toad.

Apparently, there was a reason why they called it Forever Forest.

It was rather dark inside the forest, with hardly any sunlight. It looked like the forests in the horror movies that Lucy liked to watch.

From the looks of things, Lady Bow liked to live in scary places.

However, they had a problem. How were they going to get through the forest and make it to Boo's Mansion? They didn't want to waste their time walking in circles.

Fortunately, there was someone nearby that they could ask for directions.

"My name is Oaklie. How can I help you?" asked Oaklie.

"We're trying to get through the Forever Forest." answered Lincoln. Unfortunately for them, the Boos had not told them how to get through the forest. That would have been helpful.

"It's a rather confusing place...you're not going to get anywhere if you don't know where you're going..." noted the Toad in the forest.

"Got any advice?" asked Lisa. It seemed like getting through Forever Forest was going to take them a while.

"I suggest you pay attention to your surroundings...it will help you get through the forest." said the Toad.

Lincoln and Lisa nodded.

They decided to look around to see if there was anything suspicious.

Goombario spotted something.

Apparently, there were flowers growing somewhere in the area unlike everywhere else. They were rather pretty to look at, especially in a scary forest such as this.

It seemed like this was the correct path.

They followed it and made their way deeper into the forest.

They continue to look for anything that was out of the ordinary.

However, as they discovered, there were enemies inside the forest.

A Forest Fuzzy suddenly slid down a tree.

"Meork!" exclaimed the Fuzzy.

"These guys again? Don't tell me that they're after my shell..." remarked Kooper. He still remembered the day that the Fuzzies had raided their village. At least nobody had been hurt, other than their dignity.

"The only Koopa we've encountered here is a Koopa in an egg shell..." explained one of the Forest Fuzzies.

"A Koopa in an egg shell? Wait a minute..." questioned Lincoln.

Unfortunately, these ones were stronger than the ones that they had encountered back at Koopa Village. Fortunately, it still seemed that kicking Kooper at the Fuzzies worked well.

One of the Forest Fuzzies latched onto Goombario's face.

"Get it off!" exclaimed Goombario.

"Yum! Flowers!" shouted the Forest Fuzzy.

It looked like these Forest Fuzzies were a threat to their flower points.

Mario quickly hammered it so that it couldn't do any more harm.

"Thanks." said the Goomba.

Fortunately, they had Parakarry on their side, so they could try kicking his shell at the Fuzzies as well.

Another one of the Forest Fuzzies latched onto Lily.

"Wah!" exclaimed Lily. She wasn't looking forward to losing some of her precious flower points. She needed those for special attacks.

Fortunately, Lisa shot it with her duck hunt gun.

"Whew!" shouted the baby girl.

Using Kooper and Parakarry, the party drove the Forest Fuzzies away.

"Retreat! Retreat!" exclaimed the Forest Fuzzies.

Kooper spotted something that was different in the area. Next to one of the paths was an owl sitting on a tree.

"Hoo hoo! Hoo Hoo!" exclaimed the owl.

"Maybe I can ask him how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie pop..." questioned Lana.

They followed the owl and it led them deeper in the forest.

Meanwhile, Jr. Troopa was searching for Mario and his friends. He heard that they had gone into a dark, spooky forest, so he decided to look for them. He had just gotten a pair of wings so now seemed a good time to battle them again.

However, he did not have a map of the forest, so it looked like he was going to have a hard time.

"Maybe I should have asked that Toad for directions." noted Jr. Troopa.

Some Boos appeared...however, they had an insignia of Bowser's face on their cheeks. It seemed that they were affiliated with Bowser.

One of them licked Lola in the face, giving her the chills.

"Hahaha!" laughed the Boo.

Lola shivered.

"Isn't your brother frightened of Boos?" inquired Lincoln.

Mario nodded. Still, Luigi was actually better at fighting Boos than he was. That Poltergust had captured dozens of them.

Another Boo tried that on Lucy.

However, it had no effect.

"Huh?" inquired the Boo.

Lucy then cast a spell on the Boo, causing it to deflate and fly away.

"I think Lucy might be good at Boo hunting herself..." noted Lincoln. It seemed that she was the only one who wasn't frightened of the Boos.

The Boos began to turn invisible.

"Where did they go?" questioned Lincoln.

Suddenly, one of the Boos hit Lincoln.

"Ow!" exclaimed the boy.

"We're going to need to find a way to decloak them..." said Lisa.

Fortunately, Lily had that covered. She splashed milk on the Boos and they began to drip milk.

"Aww..." said the Boos.

Mario jumped on the Boos and they decided to retreat.

Curious, they noticed a Bub-Ulb who was hiding in a corner. It seemed that the Forever Forest was giving him the creeps.

"Are you...Mario and Lincoln? I have something for you. I have second thoughts about living in this forest..." noted the Bub-Ulb.

"I don't see why you're complaining." answered Lucy.

"Thanks." said Lincoln.

"Do you know how to get through the forest?" inquired Lisa.

"Well, if you follow this path, you should be able to get deeper. You're probably heading to Boo's Mansion, right? Personally I would stay away from Gusty Gulch on account of the monster living there...however, he only seems to target Boos." noted the Bub-Ulb.

"Wait, what are Bowser's minions doing in the forest?" inquired Bombette.

They were about to find out.

Soon, they discovered Morton, who was riding a Koopa copter. He was talking to one of the Boos.

"Any sign of the Star Spirit?" inquired Morton.

"We've searched the forest but it seems that it goes on forever and forever...why does Lady Bow live in this place anyway?" inquired the Boo.

"Probably because it's dark and spooky. Keep looking! Mario can't get his hands on it and neither can his friends!" exclaimed the bulky Koopaling.

The Boo nodded and continued to search for the Star Spirit. Where in the forest could he possibly be?

"Perhaps we should get that Star Spirit before Bowser's minions find it and return it to Tubba Blubba..." noted Goombario.

Again, they decided to see if there was anything that they could use to determine the correct path.

Eventually, they found something different.

Apparently, there were eyes in one of the tree stumps.

"I wonder what's in that tree..." questioned Lincoln.

At that very moment, a Shy Guy came out of the tree stump.

"OK then..." said the boy.

The heroes followed their path. They got the feeling that they weren't far from the mansion now.

Suddenly, some Dry Bones attacked them.

They tossed bones at the party.

"Ow!" shouted Lincoln.

"More of the undead, eh? This is my type of forest." noted Lucy.

Bombette exploded on one of the Dry Bones, scattering bones everywhere.

"Keep doing that." said Lincoln.

Suddenly, Lana's Chain Chomp began to bark.

It lunged towards the Dry Bones.

The Dry Bones panicked and began to run away.

Apparently, Chain Chomps liked the taste of bones, much like dogs in Lincoln's world.

"Good boy!" exclaimed Lana.

Once again, they searched for the correct path through the forest.

They found a beehive nearby. They wondered why bees would want to live in a forest like this.

They decided to follow the path closest to the beehive.

Eventually, they managed to reach the mansion.

Unsurprisingly, it looked rather spooky. It wasn't as frightening as the mansion Luigi had gone inside, however.

"Well, this is the place..." said Lincoln.

Mario knocked on the door.

A Boo answered the door.

"Mario...welcome..." said one of the Boos.

The Boo beckoned them inside.

Together, everyone went in.

 _It looks like our heroes have made it to Boo's Mansion...now all that's left is to find Lady Bow. She has to be inside that mansion somewhere. She also said that she has something that our heroes want...but what could that be?_


	24. Chapter 24: Boo's Mansion

_In this chapter, we're going to be introduced to Bow. Apparently female Boos like to wear accessories and yet the male Boos do not. The exception is King Boo, who wears a crown on his head._

 _But before we introduce her our protagonists are going to have to search the mansion. Seems Bow wants to test our heroes first. It seems that she wants to know whether Mario is really Super Mario or not._

 _It might be best for our heroes to hurry up because Bowser's Minions are searching for the Star Spirit as well. It would be bad if they got their hands on it. Of course, they probably wouldn't hand it back to Tubba Blubba since he ended up losing the Star Spirit._

 **Chapter 24: Boo's Mansion**

"Can you take us to Lady Bow?" asked Lincoln. They were going to have a hard time finding her in such a large mansion without guidance.

"I love this place." remarked Lucy. Personally she wished that her house was more like Lady Bow's mansion. She was starting to feel jealous of her.

Then again, Lady Bow was no longer amongst the living.

"I don't! It gives me the chills!" exclaimed Kooper. He was shivering.

Although, now that he thought of it, it had similarities to the tombs that Kolorado liked exploring. It was dark and spooky.

And to make matters worse, if he were attacked by Boos, he wouldn't be able to fight back, since he couldn't hit flying enemies. Sometimes he envied Parakarry.

On the other hand, he imagined himself as more of an archaeologist than a mailman.

"We'll do that, but Lady Bow wants you to pass some tests of hers first." answered the Boo escorting them.

"What kind of tests? My sister excels at that." questioned the white-haired boy. She had gotten an A on her last one.

Mario wondered that question himself.

"Look around the mansion and you'll see." stated the Boo.

Lincoln shrugged and he along with his younger sisters decided to look around. They had a better chance of finding Lady Bow if they split up.

Mario and his partners did so as well. Maybe they would find something interesting.

They quickly noticed that the mansion was rather spooky, much like the forest it was located in. It wasn't much of a surprise considering that the mansion in question was owned by a Boo. You don't typically see a Boo out in the sunlight.

Looking out the window, they could see a gulch.

"By the way, where is Lady Bow?" inquired Lincoln.

"On the third floor." answered Boo.

"But there's only two floors." stated Lisa.

"There might be a way to change that." hinted the Boo.

Lincoln shrugged. Perhaps they needed to find a way to get to Lady Bow.

Suddenly, Lily pulled out a record.

"You found a record?" asked Lincoln.

Lily nodded.

"I wonder what we can use this for..." questioned the boy. Perhaps they could use it to play music.

"I hope it plays something good." said Lana. Fortunately it didn't seem that the record was broken.

Speaking of music, it would be nice if they could play their preferred songs. Perhaps music from the Super Mario Bros. series would be appropriate. Or maybe they could play the Loud House theme song. Both of them seemed like good choices.

They decided to see if there was a record player.

As it turned out, there was a record player, along with a Boo.

"You're not getting what's inside this treasure chest on my watch!" exclaimed the Boo.

It appeared that he was guarding something. They were going to have to find a way past him. It could contain a key of some kind.

"I would like to hear something spooky right about now..." said the Boo.

This gave Lucy an idea.

Lucy put the record in the record player.

A scary song began to play.

The Boo raised an eyebrow upon hearing the melody.

That song was familiar to him.

"Is that the Moonlight Sonata?" inquired the Boo.

He really liked that song.

He began to listen to the song.

"La la la..." said the Boo.

However, he forgot to guard the treasure chest.

Lana opened the chest while he was distracted.

"Haha!" laughed Lana.

The Boo then realized what had happened.

He put his hand on his face.

"D'oh!" exclaimed the Boo. He knew that he was forgetting something.

He needed to guard treasure chests a bit better. Bow would be disappointed with him if she let someone steal her precious belongings.

As it turned out, there was a weight inside the chest.

"Why is there a weight inside the chest? And why was that Boo guarding it?" inquired Kooper.

"I don't know, but it could prove useful." noted Lisa.

Perhaps they should keep the weight.

However, they had a problem...who could lift such a heavy weight? They needed someone who was really strong.

As it turned out, that person was Lincoln.

Now the question was what they could do with the weight. Surely that Boo was guarding that weight for a reason.

Wanting to have some fun, Lily began to bounce on the couch.

"Hee hee hee!" laughed Lily.

"Having fun, Lily?" asked Lisa.

Lily nodded. She WAS having fun. Just because she was in a spooky mansion didn't mean that she couldn't have a good time.

"That does look like fun..." remarked Lana. Then again, she would probably get in trouble with her parents if she tried that. The couch was not a trampoline.

However, she ended up being sent flying. Seems she jumped a bit too high. Mario of all people was impressed with her jumping skills.

"Whoa!" shouted Lily.

"Lily!" shouted Lincoln.

Fortunately, she landed on the chandelier, so she was fine.

Although, she seemed to weigh down the chandelier, even though she wasn't very heavy.

This gave Lincoln an idea.

He decided now was the time to use the weight.

Weighing down the chandelier opened up a door to the left.

"It looks like we've found a secret door." noted Goombario.

They opened it to see where it led.

However, it didn't lead to Lady Bow. They were going to have to look harder than that.

It seems she still wanted to test their skills.

"I guess we'll have to keep looking." noted Bombette.

Suddenly, some Boos appeared.

"Huh?" asked Lincoln.

Unfortunately, it seemed that these Boos were affiliated with Bowser.

"Hahahahaha!" laughed one of the Boos.

Perhaps they had gone to the mansion to search for the Star Spirit.

Either way, it looked like they were going to have to fight.

One of the Boos scared Lola.

She shivered with fear.

However, Mario was brave and began to jump on the Boos.

The Boos began to burst into Star Points. They were lucky that Luigi wasn't with him, even if he was afraid of ghosts.

Another Boo tossed a Bob-Omb at Bombette.

The Boo then giggled.

However, the Bob-Omb was infatuated with her.

The Boo sweatdropped. Maybe he should have picked a different target.

Parakarry lunged at the Boo and he burst into Star Points.

Also present in the mansion were Scaredy Rats.

One of them bit Lincoln on the leg.

"Ow!" exclaimed Lincoln.

It seemed that the mansion had a rat problem.

Either that, or these Scaredy Rats were also working for Bowser.

"Aah!" exclaimed Lola. The Scaredy Rats were nibbling on her dress.

Fortunately, Lana's animal taming skills were coming in handy.

Apparently, the Scaredy Rats wouldn't attack her.

However, they still couldn't seem to find Lady Bow.

"Dang it." said the girl.

However, they did find a Boo that was selling items.

"Hello?" asked Bombette.

"You'll probably need these if you're going to fight Bowser's forces." suggested the Boo.

"That's not a bad idea." answered Goombario.

Also present were several Boos. For some strange reason they were guarding a pair of boots.

However, they weren't any pair of boots. They were Super Boots!

"If you can guess which one of us have the Super Boots, you can have them!" exclaimed the Boos. Like the weight, they were going to need those if they wanted to get to Lady Bow.

The Boos proceeded to shuffle around.

However, Lucy was paying attention and tapped the Boo who had the Super Boots.

"You're good!" exclaimed one of the Boos. Personally she reminded them of their mistress, Lady Bow.

Well, they promised that they could have the Super Boots if they won their game.

One of the Boos handed the Super Boots to Lucy.

However, she didn't have a use for it. She already had a broomstick so she probably didn't need to jump too high.

However, she knew somebody that DID have a use for the Super Boots.

"Here you go, Mario." said Lucy.

Mario smiled and put on the Super Boots.

Now that Mario had the Super Boots, he could jump higher and hit harder.

That would be useful to have when fighting Bowser's minions. Of course, they wouldn't help against spiky enemies, but they would definitely help against flying ones.

There was a giant switch nearby. Perhaps Mario could use that switch using his new Super Boots.

Mario decided to try it.

He pressed the switch.

A staircase that led back to the entrance appeared.

"I guess it's time for us to go back..." noted Lincoln.

Mario nodded.

The party climbed up the stairs.

"Can we go to the library? I figure I should try reading some of the books here..." suggested Lisa.

"That doesn't seem like a bad idea." agreed Goombario.

The party decided to head to the library.

Lola found a Star Piece.

"Yes!" exclaimed Lola.

Parakarry picked up a portrait of a Boo. It was on top of one of the bookcases.

"That portrait's got to go in the mansion somewhere..." noted Lincoln.

Perhaps it was the key to finding Lady Bow.

Suddenly, they began to hear a loud noise.

"Huh?" asked Kooper.

This was followed by evil laughter.

"This can't be good." said Goombario.

Kamella then burst through the wall.

The party gasped in shock.

"I heard that there was a Star Spirit around here..." noted Kamella.

"Oh no! It's Kamella!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"I guess we're going to have to fight her..." answered Lana.

She wouldn't happen to be related to Kammy, now would she?

Kamella waved her wand, and a fireball was sent towards Mario.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.

Quickly, he jumped over the fireball.

Kamella then followed by using her wand to send Green Shells toward the party. Considering she was up against several different opponents, it was worth the time to cast a spell that could hit multiple targets at once.

"Oof!" exclaimed Mario.

"Ouch!" shouted Goombario.

"Hey!" exclaimed Lola.

However, Kooper was able to reflect one of the shells back at Kamella by withdrawing into his own shell.

"Ow!" exclaimed Kamella.

Kamella then teleported to one of the bookcases.

She cast a spell, and books were sent flying out from the shelves towards the party.

Quickly, the heroes took cover.

"Is it just me, or is Kamella awfully big for a Magikoopa?" questioned Goombario.

"I know..." nodded Lisa.

Parakarry attacked Kamella.

"Ouch!" shouted the Magikoopa.

She proceeded to create a copy of herself.

"Which one?" asked Kooper.

Lucy started to play the Kamek boss theme song from Yoshi's New Island.

One of the Kamellas began to dance.

"I think that's the real one." answered Lucy.

Mario hit Kamella on the head with a hammer.

As it turned out, Lucy was right.

Kamella then attacked using a ring of fire.

The party was forced to leap through the rings.

Lincoln finished the fight with a punch.

Kamella burst into Star Points.

"Whew! I wasn't expecting her to show up..." noted Lincoln.

"Well, she's gone now." answered Lisa.

Curious, they noticed that there was a painting where Kamella once stood.

It was a portrait of a Boo.

"I wonder what this portrait is doing here..." questioned Bombette.

"Maybe we need to put it somewhere..." answered Goombario.

They decided to look around to where they could put it.

As it turned out, there was a place that was missing a portrait.

Lincoln placed it on the wall.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." said the Boo in the portrait.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.

"Surprised I can talk? This IS a haunted mansion..." answered the Boo in the portrait.

"True..." answered Lincoln.

"Do you want me to take you to the third floor? It's the least I can do." stated the Boo in the painting.

"Yes!" exclaimed the boy.

The Boo nodded and the party was whisked away to the third floor.

Lady Bow was waiting for them.

"There you are!" shouted Lincoln.

"I've been waiting for you! I heard that you're the great Mario...are these friends of yours?" asked Lady Bow.

"Yes!" nodded Mario.

"Well, it's nice to meet Mario in the flesh...I had to provide a few tests for you to make sure it was really you." answered the ghost.

Mario nodded.

"I'm not sure if now is the time...your mansion's being attacked..." said Lincoln.

"It was frightful!" exclaimed Parakarry.

"I know...luckily I hid the Star Spirit where people wouldn't find it..." answered Bow. "We were hoping to use it to grant wishes...but unfortunately it seems we need more Star Spirits if we want to get rid of Tubba Blubba..."

"I hear he's causing a lot of problems..." stated Kooper.

"He sure is. We need your help. You want the Star Spirit, don't you?" inquired the female Boo.

"But if he's invincible, how can we beat him?" asked Lana.

"Well, he wasn't always this way. He used to be easily scared by us, so we liked to pull pranks on him. But unfortunately it seems that he got fed up with and made a deal with Bowser so that he could get his revenge on us." answered Bow.

"Maybe you shouldn't have bullied him so much." stated Lincoln. Of course, his school bully turned out to be a loving bully.

"I know...still, it was pretty tempting." answered the Boo.

"I scare my siblings a lot." stated Lucy.

"Then maybe we'll see eye to eye. Can you help us?" asked Bow.

"Sure...I'm quite fond of ghosts so I don't think I can let them be eaten by a monster." answered the girl.

Lucy shook Bow's head.

"You sure you want to go along with her?" asked Lincoln.

"We need that Star Spirit. Besides, I think we can trust her." answered Lucy.

"Then it's settled then!" exclaimed Bow.

"Are you sure you want to go out there? It's pretty dangerous out there..." warned Bootler.

"I'm not a little girl anymore! I can fend for myself...or at least with Mario at my side!" exclaimed Bow.

"Alright. But be careful out there..." said Bow's butler.

"Bootler is so overprotective of me sometimes..." answered Bow.

"Are you ready to leave?" asked Lincoln.

"As I'll ever be." answered Bow.

With that, Bow joined the party.

 _Well, that mansion sure was spooky, wasn't it? No wonder Lucy enjoyed it. Also, it looks like Kamella has been defeated. You think that she'll be back? You never know. Maybe I'll also bring the Koopa Kids._

 _In the next chapter, our heroes will be heading to Gusty Gulch._


	25. Chapter 25: Gusty Gulch

_I keep getting reviews asking me to update my fanfic. There's no need to be so demanding. Writing a fanfic takes time. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate your support. I've gotten many reviews so far. I wasn't really expecting this fanfic to get this popular._

 _Anyways, in this chapter, our heroes are going to visit Gusty Gulch, which is being attacked by a monster that the Boos ended up creating. Rest assured that Tubba Blubba and the Boos will make up...eventually. If the ending parade's anything to go by the Boos and Tubba Blubba eventually made peace._

 **Chapter 25: Gusty Gulch**

Not long after entering the gulch (which as its name implied was very windy), our heroes came across a village full of Boos.

"Lady Bow? Is that you? We didn't think you would be visiting given all the horrible things that have been happening around here." noted one of the Boos. It was a living nightmare.

"We're here to stop the monster that's been terrorizing this peaceful community." answered Bow.

"What?! You're going to take him on?! But you'll get gobbled!" bellowed the citizen of Gusty Gulch. He didn't know anyone that had a bigger appetite than Tubba Blubba.

"Relax. I brought Mario with me...and he also has friends." answered Bow. If the great Mario couldn't defeat Tubba Blubba, then who could do the job?

"I hope you know what you're doing!" exclaimed the Boo. He wouldn't want Bow to get consumed by Tubba Blubba. She was a celebrity around Gusty Gulch.

"Of course I do!" shouted the Boo with bows on her head, as her name would imply.

"Well, if you're looking for him, he's taken residence at the castle not far from here. Mind you, I'm not sure if you can even scratch him. I know that some of the Boos got the bright idea of trying to fight back against him...they're in Tubba Blubba's belly now." said the citizen of the gulch.

"His invincibility does pose a problem." answered Lincoln. Until they could find out his weakness, there was no point in trying to fight him at all. If he caught them, they would likely be forced to run.

"Still, I do wonder what he's hiding in his castle. It is rather spacious." acknowledged the Boo.

Mario nodded.

"We also received a visit from one of the Koopalings the other day...he said that if he wanted Tubba Blubba to stop eating us, we were going to have to join the Koopa Troop..." said the Boo.

"Didn't Larry already try that?" questioned Lisa.

"By the way, there's a teenage girl who showed up at our village recently...unlike us, she doen't seem to be afraid of Tubba Blubba. She was dressed in red." said the ghost.

"A girl dressed in red? Wait a minute..." stated Lincoln.

He had a suspicion of who that girl was.

If he was right, he might have found one of his siblings.

Now that he thought of it, didn't Mario also dress in red? Personally he had more in common with Lana but it was still an interesting connection between him and his older sister.

Curious, Lincoln decided to look around.

As it turned out, he discovered Lynn, who was playing basketball.

"Alright!" exclaimed Lynn. Once again, she had managed to get the basketball through the hoop.

If she ever got back home, she would probably do well at the basketball tournament.

Lincoln's eyes widened in surprise.

"Lincoln, is that you?" asked Lynn.

"Yes, it's me!" answered Lincoln.

Lynn rubbed Lincoln's hair with her fist.

"Whoa! Take it easy!" exclaimed the boy.

"I was wondering where you and my sisters were..." stated Lynn.

"I've managed to find all my younger sisters...but I'm still looking for my older ones. But at least I've managed to find you." noted Lincoln.

Lynn looked around, and noticed that what Lincoln was saying was true.

She was glad to see her younger sisters again, though she was still wondering where her four older sisters were.

"Yeah...there's not much to do here. I was thinking about leaving, but the Boos were worried that some monster called Tubba Blubba would eat me if I left the village." said Lynn.

"I'm afraid he's real!" exclaimed the boy.

"Really? I also heard that he was invincible...that seems kind of unbelievable if you ask me." answered Lynn. Lynn may have been a good sports player, but that didn't mean that she wasn't invincible when it came to sports games.

"Yeah...we're trying to figure out a weakness that we can use against him. We think he might be hiding something within his castle." stated Lincoln.

"Well, it certainly beats just sitting around here in this literal ghost town. Count me in!" exclaimed Lynn, stretching out her hand.

Lincoln gave Lynn a high five.

Suddenly, they noticed that Chuck Quizmo was nearby.

"I wonder what he's doing in this ghost town..." questioned Goombario.

"Ready for another round of questions?" asked Chuck Quizmo. He had tried asking the Boos, but it didn't seem they were in the mood to answer questions while Tubba Blubba was looking for Boos to eat.

Lincoln shrugged. Why not?

Lincoln's siblings and Mario and his partners appeared.

Chuck Quizmo asked his first question.

"Question 1...how many sisters does Lincoln have?" asked Chuck Quizmo.

Lincoln of coursed piped in. He of all people would know the answer to that question.

"10!" exclaimed Lincoln.

Personally he thought that question was rather easy. However, he wondered why exactly he had so many sisters in the first place.

"Correct! Here is an Ace Savvy comic book!" shouted the worm.

Lincoln got an Ace Savvy comic book.

It was always nice to read about Ace Savvy's adventures.

"Question 2...what weapon is Bowser currently in possession of?" asked Chuck Quizmo.

Mario piped in.

"Yes?" inquired the worm.

Mario answered the question.

"The Star Rod? Very good!" exclaimed the worm.

Mario received lots of spaghetti.

He leapt into the air with delight.

"Question 3...how many Koopa Bros are there?" asked Chuck Quizmo.

Lana pressed the buzzer.

"Yes, Lana?" inquired the worm.

"There are four!" exclaimed Lana.

"Very good. Of course, I heard that you fought the four of them, so you would probably know that. As a reward, you get a new set of overalls!" shouted Quizmo.

Lisa remembered how they tried to impersonate Bowser...and failed miserably. King Boo was WAY better at impersonating Bowser. He gave Luigi an awful fright.

"Awesome!" shouted the wrench-wielder.

"Question 4...if for whatever reason you're going on a stealth mission, whose your gal?" asked the worm.

Bow raised her hand.

"Yes?" inquired Quizmo.

"That would be me...I can turn both myself and other people invisible." explained Bow.

"Correct!" exclaimed the worm.

"What are you going to give me though? I'm already rich..." pointed out the ghost girl. Sometimes being rich was boring. She was glad that she was going on an adventure for a change.

"I'll give you a hint to your mission...you should look for the key to the mill near Tubba Blubba's castle..." explained Chuck Quizmo.

Bow nodded.

Something told her that Tubba Blubba was hiding something within that mill.

The only question was what exactly WAS he hiding inside that mill.

"Question 5...how did you get to Mt. Rugged?" asked Chuck Quizmo.

Lincoln recalled doing that in the last chapter. There had been a Star Spirit located in the desert. Bowser had made sure to hide it pretty well to make sure Mario and his friends couldn't find it. It was pretty impressive...even if they did manage to find it anyway.

Bombette recalled blowing up a rock so that she and her friends could keep moving forward.

Lily buzzed in.

"Choo-choo!" exclaimed Lily.

"Correct. You used a train to get to Mt. Rugged. As a reward, you get a toy train!" exclaimed the worm.

"That seems appropriate." answered Lisa.

Lily received a toy train.

She began to pretend she was a train engineer.

"Well, I think that's all the time that we have for today. If you need me I'll probably be at another town..." noted Chuck Quizmo.

Chuck disappeared.

Curious, the party noticed that there were Goombas up ahead. Apparently, they were working for Bowser.

However, for some strange reason, they were colored green, not brown like the normal Goombas.

Lincoln wondered why that was.

Goombario at that very moment decided to give them a warning.

"Be careful! These Goombas are hyper!" exclaimed Goombario.

On closer inspection, these Goombas seemed to be jumping around.

"They're acting like my sisters around chocolate..." noted the boy. He had seen them munching on candy bars before.

"We certainly love our chocolate!" exclaimed Lana. Of course, she wasn't really picky about her food, though she wouldn't eat a peanut butter and sauerkraut sandwich.

Lily pulled out a chocolate bar and began eating it. It was questionable how she was able to consume the chocolate considering she was lacking in teeth.

"If they're hyper, what does that mean?" asked Kooper.

"They can hit us with devastating attacks...however, they need to charge themselves up first." stated Goombario.

"Something tells me my ability to hide is going to come in handy." answered Bow.

"It sure is." nodded the Goomba.

Sure enough, one of the Hyper Goombas was starting to charge themselves up.

"Here I go!" exclaimed the hyperactive Goomba.

"Take cover!" warned Goombario.

The party leapt out of the way as the Hyper Goomba dashed towards them.

It crashed into a rock.

"Ow!" exclaimed the Hyper Goomba.

He needed to watch where he was going.

Shortly afterward, the bonus to his attack wore off.

"Whew!" shouted Lily. She was worried that hyperactive Goomba was going to hit them. It was pretty fast.

Another Hyper Goomba got ready to charge as well.

However, Lynn kicked a football at the Hyper Goomba.

It him directly in the face.

"Oof! What was I doing again?" asked the Hyper Goomba.

The Hyper Goomba stopped charging.

"That seems to be an effective tactic..." noted Lisa.

"Sometimes it's better to be athlete instead of a genius..." stated Lynn.

"If you say so." answered the girl.

Suddenly, they noticed Tubba Blubba up ahead.

"I'm feeling famished..." noted Tubba Blubba.

Nearby was a Boo, who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. His eyes widened upon noticing Tubba Blubba.

"Nooooo!" exclaimed the nearby Boo as the invincible glutton grabbed him.

Tubba Blubba swallowed the Boo whole.

Mario's partners gasped in shock, except for Bow.

He then let out a burp.

"Tastes like cotton candy!" exclaimed the enormous Clubba.

"Whoa! He's huge!" shouted Lynn.

"It's best that we keep our voices down so that he doesn't spot us." warned Lisa. He was working for Bowser, after all.

"That's second nature to me..." noted Lucy.

"Well, obviously, but it's not second nature to Lynn..." answered the bespectacled teen.

Lucy nodded in agreement.

Fortunately, they managed to avoid being spotted.

Tubba Blubba began to head back to his castle.

"Time for me to head back to my room." said Tubba Blubba.

Personally he wondered where the third Star Spirit was.

They could see Tubba Blubba's castle out in the distance.

"Goodness, Tubba Blubba is huge." remarked Kooper.

"See why the Boos are so frightened of him? I don't think he was that big before." answered Bow.

"Well, Bowser did make the Goomba King huge..." noted Goombario.

Up ahead were Hyper Paragoombas.

"I'm so hyper today!" exclaimed one of the Hyper Paragoombas.

"More of these hyper enemies..." noted Lisa.

Lucy decided to scare them.

"Boo!" exclaimed Lucy.

The Hyper Paragoombas gasped and all of a sudden, they weren't feeling so hyper.

"That should make things easier for us." noted Lincoln. How many hyper enemies were there in Gusty Gulch, anyway?

Sure enough, there were more Hyper enemies nearby.

This time, there were Hyper Spiky Goombas.

"I just love having my caffeine!" exclaimed the Hyper Spiky Goomba.

One of them charged towards Mario with his spike.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario. That really hurt.

Lily gave Mario a mushroom. Fortunately, eating mushrooms allowed Mario to heal himself. Did they really have powerful healing capabilities?

"I'll help!" shouted Kooper.

Kooper launched himself at the Hyper Spiky Goombas.

The Hyper Spiky Goombas were knocked away.

Eventually, they managed to reach Tubba Blubba's Castle.

If they were going to find the key, they were going to have to avoid being spotted, especially not by Tubba Blubba.

"Here goes nothing." said Lincoln.

 _Well, it looks like our heroes have found Lynn Jr...that's the first of Lincoln's older sisters...there's four more left to go. Hopefully our heroes can find them. They'll need their help if they want to keep moving forward._

 _For now, it's time for them to search Tubba Blubba's castle. The good news is that many of the guards are sleepyheads and aren't cut out for guard duty. The bad news is that other guards are alert and are definitely good at their jobs. Luckily, Bow can help our heroes stay hidden._

 _Hopefully they can defeat Tubba Blubba so that no more Boos end up being consumed. Don't you feel sorry for the poor guys. Then again, they basically did end up creating their own villain. Believe it or not, he's actually a sympathetic character._

 _Adios!_


	26. Chapter 26: Hide And Boo Seek

__In this chapter, the protagonists are going to sneak their way through Tubba Blubba's Castle. Tubba Blubba made sure to guard the castle from intruders, though for some strange reason it didn't stop the third Star Spirit from escaping. He's a crafty one, that Star Spirit.__

 _ _Meanwhile, Morton is going to try to convince the citizens of Gusty Gulch to join Bowser's cause.__

 **Chapter 26: Hide And Boo Seek**

As soon as they entered the castle, they noticed that there were Sentinels nearby. Ironically, they happened to be ghosts much like Boos, even though Tubba Blubba was their natural predator. Perhaps Tubba Blubba was making sure that once Morton reclaimed the Star Spirit, it wouldn't escape again.

Apparently, they would throw them out if they got caught. They were similar to the guards that were now stationed inside Peach's Castle.

However, they had a weakness...they couldn't see Mario or his friends if they were invisible. And if they couldn't see them, they couldn't throw them out of the castle.

Bow was eager to exploit it.

Sure enough, one of the Sentinels spotted Mario.

His eyes widened in surprise. It was none other than Bowser's greatest enemy.

"Hey, it's Mario! I better toss him out...he might eat Tubba Blubba's pasta!" exclaimed the Sentinel.

Quickly, he attempted to grab Mario and toss him out of the castle. Granted, carrying him would probably be rather difficult considering how heavy he was...but he was willing to try it anyway.

Mario wondered if the Sentinel realized what he was here for.

Bow casted a cloaking spell, and Mario and his friends suddenly disappeared.

The Sentinel wondered where they had gone.

He scratched his head.

"Funny, I could have sworn that I saw Mario and Lincoln just a few seconds ago...are my eyes playing tricks on me?" asked the Sentinel.

He decided to go elsewhere. Maybe he would find Mario if he looked around the castle.

"That was a close one..." noted Lincoln.

Unlike the Clubbas, the Sentinels took their jobs rather seriously.

Perhaps if the Clubbas weren't so sleepy, maybe the Star Spirit wouldn't have escaped.

But as it was, Tubba Blubba was unaware of the Star Spirit's location...which were with his favorite snack, the Boos.

Speaking of the Clubbas, one of them was currently taking a snooze.

"Zzz..." murmured the sleeping minion.

Perhaps it would be best to take them down. It would be easier to assault Tubba Blubba's castle if he didn't have support from his loyal Clubba soldiers.

Mario decided to ambush one.

The Clubba woke up and swung his mace at him.

"Darn it! I was dreaming about me having a million coins!" exclaimed the Clubba. He was literally swimming in them...and defying physics.

It was a dream so it didn't have to make too much sense.

"I wish I had that much money..." said Lola.

Fortunately, Mario ducked underneath it.

"You do realize that Tubba Blubba is invincible, right? What makes you think that you stand a chance against him?" asked the Clubba.

He had decided to join Tubba Blubba since he had no chance of beating him. Why stand in his path when you can stand alongside him?

"We're trying to figure out his weakness..." stated Lisa.

Personally, the Clubba wondered if Tubba Blubba had a weak point. It seemed rather unbelievable that somebody would be completely invulnerable to all forms of attack. He had his doubts that the Star Rod truly made Bowser invincible.

"Well, he does have that key he always guards...just like he used to guard that Star Spirit...whoops! I said too much!" exclaimed the castle guard.

"Something tells me we should try searching for that key..." noted Lincoln. Chances are it was around the castle somewhere.

However, it seemed like it would take them a while to find it.

Lincoln headbutted the Clubba and he was knocked out, releasing Star Points.

"I need a new job..." murmured the unfortunate Clubba. Not that he did his old one well.

Also present were Spikes, which looked similar to the Clubbas. However, they seemed to prefer attacking from a distance.

Also, for some strange reason, they carried spiked balls in their mouths. Because of this, it was typically preferable to hammer them than to try jumping on them.

They weren't as sleepy as the Clubbas, so it looked like they would be a bit trickier to deal with.

One of them rolled a spiked ball towards them.

They were actually more dangerous to Lincoln than the Clubbas were, since they could launch spiked balls at him from below.

"Ow!" exclaimed Lynn. Those spiked balls were prickly.

In retaliation, she punched the Spike in the face.

"Oof!" exclaimed the unfortunate Spike.

The Spike released Star Points.

Another Spike tossed a ball at Parakarry.

"Ow!" exclaimed Parakarry.

However, Mario whacked the Spike on the head with his hammer.

He began to see Starmen.

"It's times like this when I wish I had a helmet..." noted the Spike. Although to be fair, his shell protected him from back attacks pretty well.

On the subject of spikes, there was a room that was filled with them.

There was a treasure chest at the end of the room.

The question was how they were going to open it without looking like a Pokey.

"How are we going to get past all those spikes?" asked Kooper. He doubted Mario could simply jump over them. There were simply too many.

Lincoln tried to fly over them...

...only to discover that there were spikes on the ceiling as well.

"Ow!" exclaimed Lincoln.

Apparently Tubba Blubba had thought things through.

"Let me try..." stated Bow.

As it turned out, the spikes didn't affect her because she was a ghost.

She brought back the key.

"This should help us get through the castle..." noted Lisa.

The only question was...which door does the key belong to? Something told her that the key didn't belong to the mill.

Chances are the key to the mill was somewhere where Tubba Blubba could keep a close eye on it.

However, as they left the room, they heard loud stomping noises.

"What was that?" asked Parakarry.

As it turned out, it was none other than Tubba Blubba, the lord of the castle himself.

It seemed that he wasn't munching on Boos for the time being. While this was good news for the residents of Gusty Gulch, this did not bode well for them.

Now that Tubba Blubba had returned to his castle, it looked like their mission was about to become more complicated.

"We better hide!" exclaimed Lana. Knowing Tubba Blubba, Bow would definitely be on the menu.

Quickly, Bow hid the party from Tubba Blubba's sight.

"I wonder if Morton has found the Star Spirit yet." questioned the enormous Clubba.

As it turned out, Morton was taking advantage of the crisis that Tubba Blubba was creating.

He was trying to coerce the Boos into joining Bowser's minions. He could use their help since Mario was collecting the Star Spirits that his minions had scattered throughout the Mushroom Kingdom.

"If you don't want to be eaten by Tubba Blubba, I suggest you join the Koopa Crew!" exclaimed Morton.

The Boos wondered what they should do. It was rather tempting...but their idol Bow had chosen to side with Mario, Bowser's mortal enemy.

They wouldn't want to stand against her.

"Why do I get the feeling that my castle is being invaded? I already lost the Star Spirit so I don't see why Mario would come here..." noted Tubba Blubba.

Tubba Blubba went to another room.

"Is he gone?" asked Lynn.

"I think so." nodded Bow.

"Now that I think of it, doesn't Bowser have a castle just like this one?" asked Kooper.

Mario nodded. The difference was that Bowser's Castle was full of lava. He wasn't sure what was with Bowser and boiling lava.

It would probably be best if they didn't make too much noise. It might get Tubba Blubba's attention.

And considering that they were on a stealth mission, that would not end well for them.

Granted, Bow could shield them, but if she was eaten by Tubba Blubba they would be up a creek without a paddle.

They noticed that there were several spider webs in the castle.

There was also a dining area, but it seemed like Tubba Blubba hadn't been eating there recently. He was already full after eating so many Boos.

Lily decided to drink the milk that was in the fridge. It was delicious and fresh.

"Would it kill Tubba Blubba to clean up every once in a while?" asked Lola. Since he was invincible, it probably WOULDN'T end his game.

"I don't mind how filthy the castle is personally." remarked Lana.

"Of course you don't." answered Lisa.

Unfortunately, there happened to be Piders hanging from the ceiling.

"Hey! It's that fat plumber Mario!" exclaimed one of the Piders.

Perhaps there was a reason why there were so many spider webs in the castle.

As soon as they spotted Mario, they began to spit webs at him.

Mario quickly ducked.

Lily pulled out some safety scissors and began cutting at the webs.

The Piders began to fall.

"Oof!" exclaimed one of the Piders.

Kooper then quickly launched his shell at them. No point in letting such an opportunity go to waste.

Curious, the party began to hear the sound of yawning.

As it turned out, Tubba Blubba was getting ready to take a nap.

"All this Boo devouring is making me feel tired...I hope the Star Spirit shows up soon..." said Tubba Blubba.

With that, Tubba Blubba went to sleep.

He began to snore...very loudly.

Bow sighed in relief. It looked like they wouldn't have to worry about him for the time being.

For now, they needed to find the key to the Windy Mill.

Fortunately, they managed to find it. It was in a treasure chest next to Tubba Blubba's bed.

"I got it!" whispered Lincoln.

Quietly, the party exited the room. Hopefully Tubba Blubba wouldn't notice that his key was missing.

Incidentally, Lily had also fallen asleep herself.

"Now let's get out of here." said Lincoln.

Personally he was glad that Tubba Blubba hadn't thrown away the key. Otherwise they probably wouldn't be able to find it.

What was he hiding inside the mill anyway?

However, as they began to make their way back to the entrance, they suddenly heard a high-pitched voice.

"Hey! Who are you?" asked a mysterious stranger.

"Who said that?" asked Kooper.

"Wasn't me." answered Goombario.

Bombette looked around.

"It's me!" exclaimed the key.

Lynn gasped.

"Is this key bewitched?" inquired Goombario. He wouldn't put it past Kammy Koopa.

"A talking key?" asked Lincoln.

Lana gazed at the key in astonishment.

"That's right! The name's Yakkey!" exclaimed the talking key.

"Yakkey?" inquired Parakarry.

"Are you some sort of science experiment?" asked Lisa.

"Maybe you're the work of a poltergeist..." said Lucy.

"Don't look at me!" answered Bow.

"You're using me to find Tubba Blubba's weakness, aren't you?" asked Yakkey.

"Well..." answered Lincoln.

As it turned out, Tubba Blubba had been worried that he might lose his key just as he had lost the Star Spirit, so he used magic to make it a magical talking key.

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" screamed Yakkey.

Mario quickly pressed his hand on Yakkey's mouth.

However, the damage had been done.

At that very moment, they heard yawning.

"Huh? Who said that? I could have sworn I heard someone screaming about an intruder..." noted Tubba Blubba.

He then noticed his magical key was missing from the treasure chest.

"Hey! My magical talking key is missing!" bellowed the invincible minion.

It then occurred to him that the intruder might be Mario. Perhaps he wanted to open the Windy Mill to discover the secret of his invincibility.

"Wait a minute! I bet it's Mario! He's here to find out my weakness! And he probably brought his friends with him too! I have to stop them!" shouted the giant Clubba.

"This is bad..." said Lana.

"We've got to get out of here!" exclaimed Parakarry.

"And fast!" shouted Lincoln.

Quickly, the party began to race out of the castle.

"Mario? Where are you?" asked Tubba Blubba.

"You think you can use your cloaking abilities to hide us?" inquired Lucy.

"I'll do my best..." nodded Bow.

Quickly, she used her invisibility spell to cloak the party once again.

However, at that very moment, Yakkey broke from Mario's grip.

"They're here! Here, I'm telling you!" shouted Yakkey.

"On second thought, I'm not sure if that's going to work..." noted Lincoln.

"If we can't hide, then we run!" exclaimed Bow.

They continued making their way out of the castle.

The Clubbas wondered why the castle was suddenly experiencing earthquakes.

"What's going on?" questioned one of the Clubbas.

Perhaps it would be best if they evacuated the castle.

Quickly, they made it to the front door.

Fortunately, it seemed that the local Boos were willing to assist them.

They were keeping the door shut to hold Tubba Blubba off.

"What's wrong with the door? I don't remember locking it like I locked up the Windy Mill...although now that I think of it, that probably wouldn't have been such a bad idea." noted Tubba Blubba.

"Run for it!" exclaimed the Boos.

"But...what about you?" asked Bow.

"Don't worry about us! Worry about yourself!" shouted the foursome.

"I'll remember your sacrifice then." answered the green Boo.

"Don't let it be in vain!" exclaimed the heroic poltergeists.

Leaving the Boos to hold off Tubba Blubba, the party stuck Yakkey inside the locked door.

"Hey! Watch it!" exclaimed Yakkey.

They then entered the mill.

It was time to figure out Tubba Blubba's big secret.

Curious, they began to hear the sound of a heart beating.

They wondered where it was coming from.

"Is that coming from you?" asked Lucy.

"No, I'm doing fine." answered Lincoln. Although...being chased by Tubba Blubba DID raise his heart rate.

Perhaps if they searched the mill, they would find out.

 _Since Tubba Blubba's castle has spider webs, I figured why not include Piders from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door?_

 _I hope you have the heart to read the next chapter. Heh heh._


	27. Chapter 27: Heart To Heart

_People wanted me to continue this fanfic, so continue it I shall! I figured this was a good pun for the title as any. I could have called it Heart Attack but that seems a bit morbid for my tastes._

 _Although, there is a heart attacking our heroes in this chapter. You can probably guess who it belongs to._

 _Can they find a way to nullify Tubba Blubba's invulnerability? They just might find a way._

 _Either way, they don't want to disappoint the Boos of Gusty Gulch, now would they? They are not a snack!_

 **Chapter 27: Heart To Heart**

Using the key that they had obtained from Tubba Blubba, the party entered the windmill.

For some strange reason, they could hear the sound of a heart beating.

"Is that coming from you?" asked Lincoln. He didn't think that it was coming from him. His heart only beat that loudly when he was watching scary movies. Usually Lori watched those movies with her boyfriend Bobby.

Mario shook his head. His heart wasn't beating any louder than normal.

The deeper they went into the windmill, the louder the beating was. It seemed that they were gradually getting closer to the sound.

Just what was the source of the sound? It was kind of creepy.

Eventually, they found the source of the beating.

As it turned out, for some strange reason, there was an enormous heart inside the windmill.

Also, this particular heart had eyes. According to his biology teacher, hearts did not have eyes. And yet, this particular one did. It also wasn't shaped like a human heart, just a normal one.

Apparently, the heart happened to belong to Tubba Blubba.

Lincoln shrugged. Who was he to question video game logic? At least this plot was a bit more complex than a typical Mario game. Sometimes the story line of Mario rescuing the princess from Bowser made the story line a bit predictable.

"This wouldn't happen to be the source of Tubba Blubba's invincibility, now would it?" asked Lincoln. Perhaps if they managed to get Tubba Blubba to swallow his heart, he would lose his invincibility.

That would explain why he placed the heart inside the windmill and locked it inside. If people found out how his secret, he might as well not be invincible.

"Either way, I think we had better get ready to fight..." stated Lisa. The heart probably wasn't going to take their intrusion too well considering that Mario was with them.

Lily nodded. That heart looked rather aggressive.

The heart spotted them. It was rather surprised to see them. Wasn't the door locked?

"What's this? How did you manage to unlock the door to the windmill? I guess Tubba Blubba didn't take good care of his key..." noted Tubba Blubba's Heart. He might want to have a talk with him about that.

"They stole me!" exclaimed the talking key. Unfortunately, Tubba Blubba hadn't been able to stop them.

"Oh, I see! Apparently, Tubba Blubba couldn't keep you out of his castle...no matter! I'll do him a favor and deal with you for him! What do you think he'll say to that?" asked Tubba Blubba's heart.

The heart's eyes glowed red, and they fired a beam at Lincoln.

"Whoa!" shouted Lincoln. Luckily, he managed to avoid it in time.

The heart then jumped up and down, creating a pink shockwave.

Kooper was knocked down.

"Aah!" exclaimed the Koopa Troopa.

Quickly, Bombette helped him up.

"Thanks." said Kooper.

Fortunately for Lincoln, his flight ability shielded him from the attack.

Parakarry was safe from the attack as well.

And of course, so was Bow. She was always levitating.

Tubba Blubba's Heart noted that he would need to try a different tactic if he wanted to take down Lincoln. It seemed to work just fine against the rest of his family though.

However, his friends weren't so lucky.

"This heart is strong..." remarked Lynn. Fortunately, it wasn't invincible like Tubba Blubba was. Otherwise, why would he go through the trouble of hiding it in a windmill near his castle?

Lucy decided to step in.

She launched a fireball at the heart.

"Oof!" exclaimed Tubba Blubba's heart. It seemed that his enemies had a spell caster on their side.

In retaliation, Tubba Blubba's heart fired a beam.

The beam traveled across the floor.

"Aah!" exclaimed Kooper. That beam was dangerous. If it weren't for his shell, he likely would have been burned.

Fortunately, he managed to catch himself before he fell down.

Goombario was hit as well.

"I feel dizzy..." said Goombario. That beam packed a wallop.

Of course, he already knew of the potency of the heart's attacks considering how smart he was.

Lincoln punched Tubba Blubba's heart, knocking it backwards.

"Yeowch!" shouted Tubba Blubba's heart. Lincoln was one strong kid. Perhaps it would be best not to underestimate him. He was really strong for his age.

Of course, he probably shouldn't underestimate Mario either. They say that he was the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Tubba Blubba's heart retaliated by dashing into him.

"Aah!" shouted Lincoln.

Tubba Blubba's heart was not only strong, but it was also rather fast. Of course, considering that hearts beat faster whenever someone was feeling frightened, perhaps the pressure of the battle was getting to the heart.

Bow decided to scare Tubba Blubba's heart.

"BOO!" shouted the ghost.

"Aah!" shouted Tubba Blubba's heart.

The heart was paralyzed with fear. Perhaps Tubba Blubba was secretly afraid of Boos.

This gave the party an opportunity to attack it.

Bow slapped the heart multiple times.

"I'm being attacked by a Boo. I find this to be ironic." noted the heart, recalling its owner's appetite.

The heart suddenly began to beat.

Hyper enemies began to enter the room.

"Oh no! It's summoning enemies!" exclaimed Lana.

"Let's get' em!" shouted one of the Hyper Goombas, advancing towards our heroes.

"I guess we better get ready to hold them off." noted Lola. That way they wouldn't be overwhelmed by their sheer numbers...as well as their hyperness.

Fortunately, they knew at this point that they could hide themselves from the hyper enemies whenever they charged up by using Bow.

One of the Hyper Goombas lunged at Lily.

However, she whacked it with her rattle.

"Ow!" exclaimed the Hyper Goomba, who was now stunned. He wouldn't be dashing into them for a while.

Also present were Hyper Paragoombas. They needed to find a way to shoot them down, or they would be overwhelmed by their charged up attacks.

Bow slapped one of the Hyper Paragoombas in the face.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" shouted the Paragoomba as he was pelted by Bow's fan.

The Paragoomba collapsed on the ground.

"Time for me to charge my mega attack!" exclaimed Tubba Blubba's Heart.

"That doesn't sound good." noted Lincoln.

Sure enough, Tubba Blubba's heart seemed to be preparing for a nasty attack.

Bow realized that now would be a good opportunity for her to step in. It was times like this when her Outta Sight ability was pretty useful.

Quickly, she hid her comrades from the attack.

She did so not a moment too soon, as at that very moment, Tubba Blubba's Heart finished charging.

"Now you're going to get it!" exclaimed the heart.

Immediately, it launched a series of hearts at its foes.

"That's one nasty attack." remarked Lynn. It was a good thing that they were protected.

Unfortunately for the hyper enemies, they weren't protected. They ended up taking a beating.

"Wait, where did that plumber and that boy go?" asked Tubba Blubba's heart.

It then realized that it had struck its comrades by mistake.

"Oh no..." said the heart.

Seizing her opportunity, Lucy launched a magic spell at the heart.

"Aah!" shouted the heart.

Since Tubba Blubba's heart had taken a beating, it decided that it would make a break for it. There was no point in fighting a battle that it couldn't win.

"That's it, I'm out of here!" shouted the heart.

"Where's it going?" asked Bow. They were in the middle of a fight!

Fortunately, it knew where it could find Tubba Blubba. He was in his castle, most likely.

"You think we should follow it?" asked Lincoln. Something told him that heart was rather important. Perhaps they should try to catch it.

"Seems like a good idea to me." noted Bow. Of course, they might end up bumping into Tubba Blubba, but perhaps he won't be so invincible when they encounter him again.

Eventually, they found themselves back outside the windmill.

"Where's the heart?" asked Kooper. It seemed to have vanished.

Perhaps it was hiding from them?

"Right over there." said Lisa, pointing to the heart.

As it turned out, the heart was looking for its owner, Tubba Blubba.

"Tubba Blubba! Where are you?!" shouted the heart.

Fortunately for Tubba Blubba's heart, it was discovered rather quickly by its owner.

He seemed rather surprised to see his heart.

"What's this? How did you get outside the windmill?" asked the Clubba. Perhaps it had decided to flee once Mario decided to unlock the door.

"I need help!" exclaimed the heart.

"Alright, hold your horses." said Tubba.

Tubba Blubba picked up his heart and swallowed it.

His heart sighed in relief.

"There we go!" exclaimed the giant Clubba.

Curious, Lincoln wondered if Tubba Blubba was no longer invincible. Somehow, he seemed...weaker.

He decided to try attacking him.

"Ow!" exclaimed Tubba Blubba.

"I guess he's not invincible anymore..." noted Lincoln. This was a pleasant surprise for him.

It seemed that now that Tubba had been reunited with his heart, he could now be harmed. Perhaps swallowing his heart had turned out to be a mistake.

Bow sighed in relief. She had been worried for a second that she was going to be eaten. But perhaps she was now safe.

Tubba Blubba was surprised at the occurrence. He was expecting the punch to simply bounce off of him. And yet, it did not.

What exactly was going on?

"Wait, what happened to my invincibility? I thought Bowser made me invincible so I didn't have to worry about the Boos...what is going on here?" asked Tubba Blubba.

Perhaps now that he had consumed his heart he was no longer invincible.

Unfortunately, he couldn't simply spit it back out. It was still recovering from its battle with Mario and Lincoln.

It looked like he was going to have to dirty his hands a bit.

Tubba Blubba slammed his hands against the ground, producing a shockwave.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario. Tubba Blubba was really strong even without his invincibility.

Not only that, but he was rather fast despite his size. They had already learned that when he was chasing them inside his castle. It was a good thing those Boos showed up to help them when they did.

Still, he seemed weaker than his heart was.

Tubba attempted to grab Bow in order to eat her...

...but Bow moved out of the way, and he ended up grabbing Bombette instead.

"Huh?" questioned the oversized Clubba.

Shrugging, he decided to eat the Bob-Omb...

...which turned out to be a mistake.

Bombette exploded in his mouth.

Tubba Blubba's eyes widened with shock.

"Aah! That's way too spicy!" shouted Tubba. Perhaps he should stick to eating Boos.

The Clubba spat Bombette out.

"I could use a little help here!" exclaimed the giant Clubba.

Several Clubbas exited the castle so they could attack Mario and his friends.

They were rather confused that Tubba Blubba needed their help.

"I thought you were invincible!" shouted one of the Clubbas.

"I had it, but I lost it..." said Tubba Blubba.

One of the Clubba scratched his head. How exactly did that happen?

This was rather unfortunate for them. They were hoping to take a nap. But it looked like they would have to nap some other time.

They began to attack Mario and his allies.

One of the Clubba swung his mace at Goombario.

"Ow!" exclaimed Goombario.

Another Clubba swung his mace at Bow, but he missed. He had a hard time hitting flying targets with his mace.

"Nah nah!" exclaimed Bow, sticking her tongue out.

The Clubba frowned.

Kooper went into his shell, and knocked back the Clubbas.

The Bowser Baddies gasped as they were struck by Kooper's shell.

Realizing that Kooper was a threat to him, Tubba Blubba punched Kooper.

He was knocked into one of his castle's walls.

"Ow..." said Kooper.

However, Lynn whacked him with a baseball bat in retaliation.

"Aah!" shouted the enormous Clubba.

His minions attempted to attack Lynn, but she launched baseballs at them.

They were forced to retreat.

Bow slapped Tubba Blubba repeatedly with her fan.

The giant Clubba decided to surrender. Without his invincibility he wasn't sure what to do against Lincoln or his siblings.

"Alright alright, I give!" shouted Tubba Blubba.

He began to spit out the Boos that he had eaten previously.

"We're free!" cheered one of the Boos.

"I just wanted to fight back against the Boos that were bullying me!" shouted the Clubba.

Tubba Blubba started to cry.

Lincoln comforted him.

"Are you going to keep eating Boos?" asked Lucy.

Tubba Blubba shook his head. Although, now that his invincibility was gone, what was to stop them from bullying him again?

"Maybe you should stop bullying him." suggested the girl.

The Boos nodded. Perhaps they had been too hard on Tubba Blubba.

"Since we rescued you from Tubba Blubba...do we get the Star Spirit?" asked Lincoln.

Bow nodded. She was a ghost of her word.

Sure enough, Bootler showed up with the Star Spirit.

However, before he could give it to Lincoln, Morton suddenly grabbed it.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Mario.

A wide smile formed on Morton's face.

"Thanks for saving me the trouble for looking for this!" shouted Morton. Bowser would be so happy to have the Star Spirit in his possession once again. Hopefully his next guardian would do a better job than Tubba Blubba did.

Lincoln sighed. At least they had gotten a lot of Star Points for defeating the giant Clubba that was plaguing Gusty Gulch. Hopefully he and the Boos could make peace.

"Maybe we should have done this back at your mansion." suggested Lucy. That way the Star Spirit would have been less likely to be discovered.

Then again, some of Bowser's minions had broken into the mansion before.

Bow sighed. Well, considering Mario and Lincoln helped her with her problems, maybe she could help them with theirs.

Morton retreated to his airship, which was flying high in the sky.

"Why didn't we notice that before?" questioned Kooper.

"I guess we were focused on fighting Tubba Blubba." noted Goombario.

Well, it was time to board the airship before it flew away.

Quickly, they grabbed onto the anchor and went aboard.

 _I hoped you liked this chapter. Personally it felt a bit like a Valentine's Day special to me. Maybe it was because of the giant heart. It looks like Tubba Blubba won't be eating Boos anymore._

 _You're probably surprised that Tubba Blubba is rather sensitive despite his large appearance. Don't worry, the Boos will be leaving him be._

 _I'm sure that the citizens of Gusty Gulch are grateful for our heroes' help._

 _I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Of course, you can probably guess what's going to happen in the next chapter, right? I figure I'll probably throw in an intermission as well. The chapter will probably be short otherwise._

 _And yes, Tubba Blubba was stronger than he was in the actual boss fight with him. I figured it would be more entertaining if he put up more of a fight...and called for his Clubba soldiers, I guess. The bosses sure like to call flunkies in their fights, do they?_


End file.
